Adrien

He groaned as he walked over to the makeup section escorted by Natalie and his bodyguard. His entire morning was filled up by photoshoots, sabotaging Alya's plan to get him some time with Marinette at the band's first rehearsal to their friends. But like all good things, his dad found a way to ruin it.

To his surprise, there was another chair set up next to his. Neither of his parents was present and he wasn't informed that another model is present. Adrien groaned, praying it wasn't another female model who didn't understand personal space. His luck was not present, a sickly sweet voice disturbing world peace from behind him, "Wow, it's really Adrien Agreste."

Adrien turned around to see who was speaking, "Um yes, and you are?"

The girl, a brunette with green eyes, smiling wolfishly at him, "I'm Lila Rossi. We are shooting together today!"

Marinette

Marinette listened to Alya chatter on about her research, the excited blogger claiming to have had a breakthrough on the powers these ancient heroes possessed, as the two of them walked to the Couffaine boathouse. She had never been there before, Rose had just invited her the previous day after school to come to see them rehearse.

One of Alya's excited hand gestures hit her arm, jerking Marinette back to reality and the blogger's theories, "and the Black Cat is supposed to be able to make anyone around him have bad luck. Must be pretty useful in fights."

"Wouldn't that work in reverse too? Make people have less bad luck?" Marinette questioned, staying interested in her friend's interest.

Alya's face scrunched up concentration, "No, legends say that the Black Cat reeks of bad luck. In the comics, the incredible Hulk is a gamma radiation reactor. The Black Cat is the same, but with bad luck. He can make certain people have bad luck if he wants to, but anyone around him could suffer from bad luck even if he doesn't want them too." Alya frowned for a moment, consulting her notes on her phone. "That does make sense right?"

Marinette shrugged, "Maybe that's why Ladybugs and Black Cats are always teamed up in history. Good luck cancel out bad luck?"

Alya immediately started typing, "Oooh, that's a good line." She glanced up at Marinette, "Mind if I use it in my next blog post?"

Marinette smiled at her, "Not at all. Whoa." She stared at the colorful boathouse, surprised at how it stood out along the bay.

Alya grinned, "Ya, that was my first reaction too. Just wait till you meet Juleka's mom." She led the way across the bridge set across the dock to the boathouse.

On deck was Ivan checking his drum set while Rose did a mic check with Juleka's help. Mylene, who was sitting on a nearby couch, spotted them and waved them over. "Hey, guys you made it! They are still running checks before rehearsing, so we got some time yet."

Alya and Marinette took in the bands set up, noting the various instruments. "How long had they been playing?" Alya asked to Marinette's surprise.

"You haven't heard them yet?"

Mylene gave Marinette a kind smile, answering for Alya, "They haven't performed for anyone except me so far." The quiet girl paused for a moment, then added, "Oh, also Juleka's and Luka's mom of course."

Marinette only found more questions in the answer, "Who's Luka?"

Mylene's eyes lit up, "He's Juleka's older brother. He plays the guitar and helped Rose write her songs." A woman came up from below the deck, carrying a small speaker as she weaved through the messy deck. "Hi, Captain Couffaine! Do you remember Alya? And this is Marinette, she is new at school."

The woman gave them a kind smile, "Welcome mateys. Are you excited to hear the band?" The three girls nodded eagerly as the captain looked around the deck. "Where is Luka? He is needed for the soundcheck is he not?"

"He is still downstairs in our cabin," Juleka answered, testing her own bass guitar's sound.

Anarka looked around, then dropped her eyes on Marinette. The girl was looking around the deck taking in the whole scene around them. "You, Marinette. Could you please head down below and get him for us?"

Marinette flashed a kind smile, nodding at she headed down the stairs below deck, "Sure." Marinette wandered down, walking through the cluttered living area, careful not to trip over anything else below. Just past it was another room, the decorating split down the middle with the far side of the room's wallpaper purple. Next to a bed was a desk, sitting on it were several photos of what appeared to be Juleka modeling. Marinette inspected the photos, interested in this new discovery. The clothes weren't from any brand and the photos may have been taken by Rose or one of the girls. Maybe she wanted to model but was just shy? "I wonder if she would want to model one of my designs," the designer asked herself.

"Well Juleka isn't actually a world-famous model, so she would definitely accept any offer. Though she is a bit shy, so she might not say yes right away." Marinette squeaked, jumping as a calm voice startled her, memories of being cornered by surprise by Lila and her cronies coming back to her. Behind her on the opposite side of the room was a blue-haired boy with a guitar in his lap, regarding her with a small smile. He frowned when he realized she was going into some kind of panic attack, "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I'm Luka, and I'm not very good with words."

Marinette didn't say anything, still shaking from the potential threat. 'Why didn't I take Alya with me?' she thought to herself, wishing the protective blogger was there.

Luka stared at her concerned, hating the fear he saw in her eyes. He found himself captivated by them, unable to look away from them or her soft lips. Luka forced himself to pry his eyes away, then picked up his guitar, "Let me try this." He strummed the cords, a calm melody drifting from him to the startled girl. His heart lifted as she seemed to calm down as he continued the melody, setting herself down on Juleka's bed. He tilted his head frowning, "You look familiar?" Scanning the room, he found what he was looking for: a rock magazine with Jagged Stone on the cover wearing his now-iconic Eiffel Tower sunglasses. Behind him waving shyly was Marinette. "You designed Jagged Stone's sunglasses, Marinette right?"

She nodded, still hesitant but not panicking, "Yeah, I won the contest he had for it." She left out the part where Jagged Stone had also asked her to design his next album cover, deciding bragging wasn't a good thing. "Your Luka right?"

He nodded, still playing the calm melody, "Yup."

"Your mom asked me to get you, it's almost time for the rehearsal."

Luka stopped playing and got up, "Well I guess we better get going." He gave her a kind smile and led the way back out. Marinette followed him out, still uncertain about him.

Adrien

Normally he put up with modeling because it pleased his father, but today was not one of those days. Lila had only been there for an hour and she already made him want to go on strike. When they were posing, she always got way closer than what was necessary. The photographer had to retake multiple shots due too Adrien looking uncomfortable or in some cases straight up pulling away from her. He swore Lila even groped him at some point. And every time he did so, Lila would tear up and ask why he didn't like her. Adrien would love to do nothing more than tell to keep her hands to herself, but Natalie always pulled him aside to reprimand him.

Even now as they waited for the photographer to find his back up lenses, Lila was getting under his skin. She would not shut up about all the charities she helped with and the celebrities she had met. So many of them were obviously lies made up to try and impress him. Tuning her out, Adrien pulled out his phone and selected Marinette's contact.

Adrien: How's the band? I still stuck at a photo shoot, they brought in this girl Lila Rossi who is way too clingy. No idea why she is even here.

Lila being the nosy annoyance she is, leaned over to try and read his screen. Adrien turned it off right away, but not before she read the contact. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng?" Her face became one of horror, "Why would you even chat with someone like her?"

Adrien raised an eyebrow at her, "What do you mean?"

"She used to go to my school and bullied everyone there," the girl cried.

Adrien opened his mouth to retort but was cut off by Natalie. "Adrien, your father wishes to speak to you. Now." Adrien got up from his chair, relieved to be needed anywhere else but next to Lila. Natalie leads him away for privacy away from Lila.

Gabriel's stern face glared at him through the tablet, "Adrien, why are you being rude to the model at the shoot with you. Natalie reports you being disrespectful and have caused Ms. Rossi to cry on several occasions. Explain yourself."

Resisting the temptation to glare at Natalie for ignoring the obvious reasons, Adrien calmed his voice as much as he could. "Lila is being inappropriate onset and has tried to grope me on several occasions, so I rather not shoot with her. She makes me feel uncomfortable and doesn't seem to understand personal space."

"That is not up to you Adrien. Now get back out there and be a gentleman."

Before Adrien could respond, Gabriel cut off the connection. Natalie motioned him back to the set, "Come along, Adrien." She turned around, expecting him to follow her without a single question about it.

"No."

Marinette

As the band performed their final checks, Marinette sat back down next to Alya. The blogger eyed her curiously, "You two sure took your time."

Marinette raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?" Alya rolled her eyes and gestured at Luka, who was checking his volume. "Luka? No, no, no. Nothing happened I assure you." Marinette narrowed her eyes, "Why are you so curious?"

Alya shrugged, playing it casual, "Nothing really, just thought you might be interested in Luka."

Marinette laughed, glancing at the guitarist. Luka caught her glance, giving her a small smile at his face reddened a little. "Nothing is going on between us," Marinette laughed. Alya sighed to herself in relief. Adrien already was climbing a slippery slope, he did not need the complication of Marinette having a crush on another guy.

"Alright, guys!" Rose's voice boomed through the speakers, starling the spectators. "Let's do this!" At once the band started playing, but not music like Marinette had ever heard. Then again, there were no rock songs about unicorns before.

As the band rocked away, Marinette felt her phone buzz. She smiled when she saw that the message was from Adrien, but the smile fell as she read the message, her blood freezing. Without warning, she rushed off without saying goodbye.

Alya stared after her friend while Luka walked up to her from behind. "I think she is still startled from earlier. I scared her by accident. Alya didn't reply, staring after her friend as her thoughts swirled around in her mind.

Adrien

Natalie glared at him, "What do you mean no?"

Adrien stood his ground, what I mean is I won't model with her. I will only do solo shoots from now on."

"Adrien, you don't understand. Ms. Rossi won a contest at her school, the prize being a chance to model with you."

"I never agreed to that," Adrien scowled. "And I won't cooperate with something I don't want to do." Natalie attempted to reign him under control, but Adrien spotted Marinette on the edge of the park. The young designer seemed to be looking for someone. Taking his chances that it might be him she was looking for, Adrien walked away headed towards Marinette as he ignored Natalie's protests.

Marinette didn't see Lila anywhere to her relief, worried the lying bully would spin lies around Adrien. What she didn't expect was a relieved Adrien marching out of the park straight towards her. "Hey Adrien, what happened?"

"I would love to tell you, but first we need a place to hide."

Marinette gave him a small knowing smile, "I know a place." She led him down a nearby alleyway leading to the back entrance to her parent's bakery. "It's been a while since I had to take this route. I used to take it to avoid Lila or her minions."

Adrien felt his spirits drop so that Lila girl was the one who had bullied Marinette. "That's awful, Marinette. How did no one ever notice this?"

"Lila always managed to keep her actions hidden well, until the school was completely rallied against me. Then they did almost all the work for her." They reached the back door, Marinette opened it and led him through the bakery, greeting her parent before heading upstairs.

As they settled down into her room, Adrien eyed her with concern, "What did they do? I mean if you don't want to talk about it, you don't have to talk about it."

Marinette took off her jacket, setting it on her coat hanger before sitting down in her chaise, Adrien sitting in her desk chair. "It's okay, my therapist has been recommending that I open up to my friends about it." She chuckled to herself, "I didn't know this at first, but after our first week at school together, I learned that he is actually Alya's dad."

Adrien chuckled with her, "Does Alya know?"

Marinette shook her head, "I don't think so, I haven't told her and neither has her dad." She bit her lip and looked at him, eyes staring into his with a sense of trust she couldn't explain. "As for your earlier question, it started as lies and rumors. Next, my stuff would go missing, they trashed two of my sketchbooks. People would trip me in the hallways and if the teachers saw it, they would just say it was my fault for being so clumsy."

Adrien stared at her jaw dropped, "Please tell me it doesn't get worse."

Marinette gave him a sad smile, "I can't, not without lying and I prefer to leave that to Lila. Sometimes, other girls would corner me in the bathroom to harass me. Sometimes they only spoke, but other times…" Marinette sniffled, tears starting to roll down her eyes. "They would hit me, usually in places where my clothes would cover up the bruises." Marinette broke down crying, dropping her head in her hands.

A pair of arms wrapped around her and pulled her close, Adrien had moved to sit next to her. As Marinette rested her head against him, Adrien swore that Lila would never touch her again. But for now, he was intent on holding her, keeping her safe as he could.

Lila

She had seen Adrien run off with Marinette, scowling. Adrien had resisted her charms and if he believes Marinette, her chances of a rich hot boyfriend were gone. Marinette was going to learn a lesson for meddling with Lila's plans.

Alya

She tried to resist, but after today Alya needed answers. She knew Marinette might never forgive her, but she opened her dad's file. Alya was not prepared for what she found: a much more graphic version of the story Marinette had told to Adrien only hours before. Tears streamed down her face as she forced herself to finish reading the whole file.