While walking home, Marinette couldn't stop the anxiety rising in her chest. Stepping out onto the streets, she could see people everywhere. Many of them watched curiously as she continued to drag her parents towards the bakery.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Sabine began fussing over her. "Are you sure you're alright, Marinette?" she asked, reaching out to move her daughter's hair from her face.

Marinette stepped out of her mother's reach. "I'm fine, really," she said. Realising her behaviour was out of place, she tried to smile to alleviate their concerns. Her efforts only made them look more worried though, and she soon stopped.

Tom stood next to Sabine, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Okay," Tom said. "But if you want to talk, we're here for you." Sabine nodded in agreement.

"Thank you, Papa." Marinette gave him a quick hug, hoping it would reassure him enough to let her leave. When they didn't move to stop her, she started to go towards the stairs to her room. She had one foot on the stairs when her phone went off. At first she considered answering, but decided against it. She had seen the messages piling up since she left the classroom, and she was in no hurry to talk to any of them. Continuing up the stairs, she ignored the call.

"Aren't you going to get that?" Sabine asked. "It could be one of your school friends."

Marinette grimaced at the thought. "I don't think I'm up for talking to anyone right now. I think I'm just going to rest for a bit." She made her way up to her room. Tom and Sabine shared a concerned look. They never knew her to act that way before. It was obvious to them that there was more to the story than they were being told.

As Marinette closed the trap door to her room, her phone rang again. She fished it out of her purse and turned it off, throwing it into a corner. Tikki watched silently as she began to pace around the room. On her turn back towards the trap door, Marinette couldn't take the silence anymore. She rounded on Tikki. "Aren't you going to say something?"

Tikki was startled by her outburst. "Marinette, it's okay," she said in a calming manner, trying to reassure her.

"What? It's not okay, Tikki! Everyone saw me. They're going to tell everyone and I'll have to stop being Ladybug. Then Hawk Moth will come after me and family. Tikki, this is the worst thing that could have happened."

"Marinette," Tikki tried again. "They're your friends, they're not going to say anything. They would never do that to you."

Marinette looked over at her phone as if to make a point. Tikki followed her line of sight and sighed. "I'm sure they're just worried about you. They know how difficult this must be. You have to have faith in them." Marinette groaned in frustration, falling onto her chair. She stayed in that position for a while, not moving, as Tikki waited patiently nearby.

Marinette tried to find ways to pass the time. She couldn't bear to watch TV or look online in case she saw the news reporting on her. So instead, she dragged her homework out and hoped that time would pass that way. It didn't work though. No matter how hard she tried, images of how the next few days would play out circled in her mind. Everyone at her school staring at her as she walked up the stairs, people bombarding her family's bakery, Hawk Moth coming in through her window while she slept…

Her room suddenly seemed too open, leaving her feeling exposed. She made her way up to her bed, locking the trap door along the way and curled up under the blankets. She felt Tikki's weight as she settled on the pillow next to her head. Marinette turned her head and watched her kwami's resting figure. Closing her eyes, she prayed that the whole day was just a horrible nightmare.

Throughout the afternoon and evening, her parents made several visits up to her room. Each time they offered to stay she would decline, preferring to be left alone. Alya also made several calls to their house, asking about Marinette's well being.

Tikki was worried about her distancing herself from her loved ones. She tried to convince Marinette to spend time with her family but got no response. After several unsuccessful attempts Marinette turned to face the wall, choosing to ignore Tikki entirely.

Marinette knew that hiding herself in her room wasn't a great choice. Even her best friend was worried about her and yet she couldn't bring herself to answer a simple phone call. She wasn't sure she could ever face Alya again. After all the times she had lied about her identity and deceived her, there was no way she wouldn't feel betrayed. This would be just another reason for Alya to hate her. Tears blurred her vision before she could stop them and dripped down her face onto the pillow.

It was some time before anyone disturbed her again. There was a small knock on the trap door, almost too quiet for Marinette to hear over the sounds of her own sniffling. She expected one of her parents to come up like they normally did but no one entered. Just as she thought they had given up for the night, there was another knock, louder this time.

"Marinette?" a voice called out. It was Alya. She knocked again and slowly opened the trap door, peeking into the room. The room was dark, almost too dark to see. As she looked around, Alya didn't notice Marinette at first. Only when she looked up towards the bed did she see a lump under the blankets.

"Alya…" Marinette's reply sounded choked, her voice hoarse from crying. Alya finished climbing up into the room and shut the trap door behind her. When she didn't hear any objections, she carefully made her way up the ladder towards the bed. She paused at the second to last step and waited nervously.

After a moment, the mass of blankets shifted and Marinette's head popped out of the far end. Her hair was a mess, her eyes red and puffy from crying. She sniffed. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

Alya couldn't stop her eyes from welling up with tears. "I am so sorry, Marinette," she said. "I was completely awful to you today, and I understand if you don't want to be friends anymore. But, I-"

"What!" Marinette sat upright, the blankets falling to a heap on her lap. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Alya, I'm the one who should apologise. I lied to you all this time-"

"But you had a reason for it." Alya said as she looked away, unable to look her in the eyes any more. "I just wanted a scoop for my blog."

"Alya-"

"I almost exposed your identity to everyone. If Chat Noir hadn't stopped me…" She couldn't bear to finish that thought. Tears streamed down her face and she quickly wiped them away. "I'm a terrible friend."

Marinette crawled over to her and wrapped her up in a tight hug. When they pulled away, she rested her hands on Alya's shoulders. Her voice was thick with emotion. "No, Alya. You're my best friend, and you're great at it. I'm so glad you're here."

Alya smiled from the praise, wiping the tears from her face once again. "I'm so lucky to have you," she said.

When Alya managed to convince Marinette to leave her bed, they ended up on the chaise lounge. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, with Marinette resting her head on Alya's shoulder.

"No one has… told anyone, have they?" Marinette asked, lifting her head to look at Alya.

"Miss Bustier knows," Alya said. She glared at the wall as she spoke. She wasn't happy with how things had turned out. "She figured it out from everyone's gossiping."

Marinette felt sick. She never wanted anyone to know, and now the choice was being taken away from her. She tried to reassure herself that it could have been worse, but it wasn't helping.

Alya kept talking, trying to ease her concerns. "No one else knows, and you know Miss Bustier would never tell. She knows how dangerous that would be." Marinette smiled a little at that. She had a great teacher. Alya shifted uncomfortably. "And… we were thinking," she said slowly. "Maybe you should tell Adrien."

It took Marinette a moment for Alya's words to sink in. Telling Adrien was the last thing she wanted. Only hours ago she was worried that he already knew her secret, and now she was supposed to just go out and tell him? The idea was almost laughable.

"Listen, Marinette," Alya said. "I know it sounds bad to tell even more people, but Adrien's a smart guy. He's going to figure it out eventually, especially since everyone else in class knows." The reminder of what happened was like a slap in the face, making Marinette feel sick. She wished she could end the conversation and get back into bed. Alya noticed the change in her mood. "I shouldn't have brought that up. I'm sorry. Forget I said anything."

"No, you're right," Marinette said. She took a deep breath. "I need to tell him eventually. I might as well get it out of the way." Her mind went back to their conversation in the nurse's office. His reaction was just so different than usual. She picked at the hem of her shirt as she thought it over. "Are you sure he doesn't know?" she asked.

Alya shook her head. "He wasn't in the classroom when it happened, and I made sure no one would talk." She cracked her knuckles menacingly. That got a giggle out of Marinette.

"But he was acting so weird today. I mean, he kept staring at me and…" Marinette trailed off, seeing Alya's excited expression.

"What! When was this?" Alya asked.

Marinette felt very uncomfortable with her friend's reaction. "Um, today in the nurse's office. He kept looking at me. For a while, I thought for sure he knew."

"Oh my God! Maybe he likes you," Alya said, the excitement rising in her voice. "This is all the more reason to tell him! No one could resist a superhero."

Marinette pulled a face. "I don't want him to like me because of that."

Alya rolled her eyes. "Then I'm afraid you're out of luck, because no one could resist your heroic charm." She did an exaggerated hero pose to emphasize her point. Looking over, she caught the sight of Marinette's unimpressed face that left her in a fit of giggles.

Marinette slumped down in her seat, although she couldn't quite keep the smile from her face. She knew that Alya had a point about telling Adrien, but that didn't make it any easier.

It took Alya a minute to stop laughing. "So, what are you going to say to him?" Alya asked, getting back to a more serious topic.

Marinette thought for a moment but no ideas came to her. She turned pleading eyes onto her friend. Alya always knew what to say in any situation. "Could you do it for me?" she begged. "I know how much he admires Ladybug. I don't want to disappoint him, or say the wrong thing."

Alya looked pointedly at her. "He called you our 'everyday Ladybug'. He's not going to be disappointed." Alya leaned over and poked Marinette's leg, "It needs to be you who does it."

Marinette sank further down the seat, almost falling off, and scrunched up her face. "I know," she whined. That didn't mean she wanted to do it, though. She watched as Alya went over to the computer and grabbed out the game controllers. While she waited, Marinette wandered over and grabbed her phone from the floor. She stared at the blank screen, debating over whether to check her messages.

Alya saw what she was doing and frowned. "Put that thing down. It's just the two of us tonight. No one else is invited." Marinette laughed and obediently put down the phone, turning her attention to the game. Alya slept over that night. They continued to play games late into the night until eventually they both fell asleep.

When Marinette woke up the next morning, she almost forgot the horrors of yesterday. It hit her soon enough however, and she groaned loudly at the memory. Slowly, she sat up from the floor, her body aching from her poor choice of bed.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Alya's voice called out. Alya was sitting comfortably in front of the computer, scrolling through a website. "You'll be glad to know there is zero mention of what happened yesterday, anywhere," she said with a smile.

Marinette's whole body sagged in relief. She didn't realise how much she needed to hear that. She quickly glanced at where her phone sat, untouched. "And I'm sure if you checked your messages, they would all be supportive," Alya said knowingly.

Marinette shook her head. "I can't deal with that right now."

"Fair enough. Come on, your parents have breakfast for us downstairs."

Back up in her room, Alya was all dressed for school. "Are you sure you won't go?" she asked again, checking her reflection in the mirror.

Marinette looked down at the floor, wringing her hands together nervously. She really did want to go with Alya, but having to face everyone made her feel so exposed. "I don't know. I…"

"Don't stress it, girl. You don't have to go. Your parents already okayed you staying home. But if you change your mind, I'll be there with you the whole time."

Marinette smiled a bit. "Thanks, Alya."

Alya's thoughts drifted off as she finished getting ready. "I still can't believe it's you," Alya said. Marinette was embarrassed by the sudden awe in her voice. "I even have a blog about you." A thought struck her and Alya turned around to face her friend. "Can I interview you?"

The idea made Marinette a bit nervous but she couldn't say no to her best friend. "Of course you can," she giggled.

"Tonight?" Alya asked excitedly.

Marinette's face dropped. "Oh, I have, um, patrol tonight," she said. The words seemed strange coming from her civilian self. It would take a while for her to get used to talking about her superhero life. "But I can call you tonight…" Marinette suggested. Alya raised an eyebrow at her expectantly. "Oh," Marinette said, once she realised.

"Yeah, no phone." Alya started to grin. "Well, make sure to tell Chat Noir that he owes me a new one." She opened up the trap door and waved goodbye, before disappearing down the stairs.

Marinette paced around the room a bit, still weighing her options. Tikki came out of her hiding place and watched her. When Marinette noticed, she paused and asked, "Tikki, do you think I should go today?"

"I think it's up to you. But you do have to go back eventually."

"Ugh, you're right. But what if-" she said, sounding slightly hysterical.

Tikki interrupted her. "Marinette, they're good people, and Alya will be there with you the whole day. She told you that herself. If it gets too much for you to handle, you can always leave."

Marinette sighed deeply and moved over to her dresser, grabbing her things. "Okay, Tikki. I'll go."