Adrien
Gabriel was waiting for Adrien when he got home. Then again, why wouldn't he? The shoot was delayed half an hour due to Lila acting like the coffee was life-threatening. One of the assistants called an ambulance before Natalie could rein in control again. After the ensuing confusion, the shoot finally started, only for Vincent to stop it all again. "The chemistry isn't there! Adrien is acting like she is going to bite him."
"I won't bite unless you want me too," Lila purred at him, a challenge in her eyes. Adrien just scowled and looked away.
Vincent turned to Natalie, "See? I can't photograph a pair without chemistry or it will just look terrible no matter how handsome Adrien is." Lila scowled at his comment, feeling as though it was an insult against her.
Natalie sighed, looking down at her tablet. "Then we switch to plan B. We will do solo shoots, Lila first, then Adrien." Vincent nodded and motioned for his assistants to ready the various lighting for Lila.
Finally, Adrien was home, an hour and a half behind schedule. No doubt this was going to be another son, you are a disappointment speech. His father glared down at him from the top of the stairs. "Adrien, why are you home so late?"
"The shoot took longer than expected," Adrien started, only to be cut off by Gabriel.
"You missed your Chinese lesson and your piano instructor will be here soon. Go to your room and practice while you wait. You can eat dinner afterward. You will have to make for this lost time tomorrow." Adrien began to walk away when Gabriel called out again, "Don't mistreat Ms. Rossi in any way in the future. She is now the face of the company and an ideal match for you, should you learn to act not like a child." Without another word, Gabriel turned and walked away to his office.
Adrien scowled and headed to his room, knowing he would need to practice piano. Plagg zipped out of his shirt once they were inside and saw the dark look on his Chosen's face. "Take it, easy kid, if you let yourself get too worked up, Hawkmoth might be able to akumatize you."
Adrien sighed and glared at his closed door. "I wonder how he would react if his sketchbooks were all destroyed. Or even that book he loves to read so much."
"Adrien, no! You can't use the powers of the miraculous for personal gain. It never ends well," the kwami insisted. "I have seen warriors abuse my powers to win wars, but they all perished the same: monsters. You are not a monster and Ladybug can't afford to lose her partner. Especially now that Hawkmoth has captured Master Fu. Paris needs you to be the hero they need."
Adrien groaned, "But we can't even find Hawkmoth, how are we supposed to find Master Fu? We have been fighting him for so long and we don't even have a clue."
"With patience and time, kid," Plagg told him. "I've been around for a few thousand years and nothing good gets done by impulsive actions."
Adrien sighed and settled down at his piano and began practicing. Plagg grabbed a piece of cheese and rested on the piano, listening quietly.
Marinette
It felt weird using the normal way to get on the school roof or any rooftop for that matter. Usually, she would just use her yoyo to pull herself up onto building rooftops. Today, she used the stairs. Weird. Waiting for her was Adrien, already sitting on the edge of the roof. "Hey, Adrien!"
He turned and beamed at her, "Hey, Mari!" She sat down next to him, setting down a bag of treats between them. "You know, if you keep giving me treats like this, my dietitian is going to have a heart attack."
Marinette shrugged, offering him one of the Ladybug themed cookies her parents were trying out. "They probably deserve it for starving you so much." Adrien looked at her, completely shook. Marinette caught his stare, "What? You are literally skin and bone. I have seen all your shoots and it's very easy to tell. " She blushed slightly as she realized her stalker side was starting to show, hoping he wouldn't comment.
Adrien blushed as he nodded quietly, it was something he was aware of, but didn't know anyone else had noticed it. "So that's why you keep feeding me treats?"
Marinette smiled as she nodded, "Yeah and I like to spoil my friends." The pair fell silent as they ate the treats, watching as other students entered the school. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
Adrien took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "My father was waiting for me when I got home yesterday. The usual about being behind schedule and being the face of the company. Not how I was feeling, just business."
Marinette reached out and placed her hand on his, Adrien grabbing it and holding on tightly. "Then he went on about how I should be kinder to Lila and how she could be my…" Adrien trailed off, glaring at said girl in the courtyard below. Marinette followed his gaze and saw Lila as well, talking to Alya. Alya seemed shocked by what the other girl was saying, no doubt another tall tale.
Marinette squeezed Adrien's hand. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay. Just take your time."
"He wants me to date Lila." The thought sounded disgusting to him, but it felt good to share his problem with someone else. "Maybe even marry," he added.
"That's," Marinette paused, trying to find the words to say. "That's just wrong. How could he force you into something like that?"
Adrien shrugged, looking down at the two girls in the courtyard. Lila now seemed to be comforting Alya, while others in the courtyard were walking over to see what was going on. "He just does as he pleases."
Marinette opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by the bell. "Sorry, but we should get going. Talk after school today? I know you have a shoot after school today, so this afternoon might not work right?"
"Yeah, I would like that." Adrien smiled at her, then frowned. "Wait, I didn't tell you that I have a shoot after school."
Marinette turned red as a tomato, not sure what to say. "Uhh, I, I." They heard a scream from in the courtyard. Looking down, they realized everyone was looking at the entrance. Standing there was Juleka and next to her was…
"Is that Chloe?" Adrien asked in disbelief, unsure if he was awake or dreaming. If he was dreaming this is a weird dream.
"That's Chloe, I think," Marinette offered, shocked at the sight below them. Chloe was standing in the entrance proudly, her hair down dyed a mix of purple and blue. "It looks like Luka and Juleka dyed her hair together and couldn't agree on which color."
Adrien nodded as he picked up his school bag, grabbing Marinette's before she could. "Hey! That's mine."
"What? I'm just carrying it," Adrien answered with a smile that made her melt on the spot. Adrien led the way back down the stairs, red-faced Marinette behind him. Chloe had beat them to the classroom, where Adrien gave her a thumbs up while Marinette flashed a smile at her and Juleka. The two girls seem to have bonded over night somehow.
Seating changed again, Lila's half of the class moving up a row while Nino was now in the back row across from Adrien and Marinette. Nino looked up to give them a wave before putting his head back down. Alya and Lila entered just in front of Ms. Bustier. "Alya, please no, wait until you do this more privately!"
"No!" The blogger was fuming, clearly very upset by what Lila told her. "It's bad enough that Marinette is trying to steal Adrien from you, but now she is trying to take Nino too."
Half the class groaned in unison while Ms. Bustier looked in her teacher's handbook for guidance. Alix spoke up, "Good god, Alya, do you seriously believe this?"
"Lila saw them together, Marinette was flirting with him."
Nino sat up in the back row, "Babe, I was with you and Adrien the whole time."
"I can attest to that," Max inputted. "According to all known data, there is no possibility that Lila would ever see Nino and Marinette talking as Marinette and Nino never spoke yesterday."
"But Lila saw them together," Alya insisted.
Juleka stood up, "Maybe you should listen to some else other than Lila."
"You are just mad because she pointed out that Luka is a pervert," Rose shouted.
"Funny how you try to talk me down after telling me I have a voice that should be heard," Juleka shot back. "And my brother, who I share a room with, is not a pervert."
"Why are you lying?" Rose asked. "I thought we promised to always be honest with each other."
"She is being honest," Chloe defended. "I listened to her. I just met Luka and even I can tell that he is not a pervert."
"Don't listen to her, Rose," Sabrina interrupted. "Chloe doesn't have any good in her, why wouldn't she defend Luka?"
"Okay, I'm done." Marinette yelled as she stood abruptly and pulled out her phone. All eyes landed on her while she dialed a number. Glaring at the class she pressed the video call option. Everyone stopped talking when they heard it ring.
Jagged Stone picked up after a few rings. "Marinette! How's my favorite niece!?"
Marinette had a wicked smile on her face that sent chills down Adrien's spine. Lila seemed to be inching out of the room. "Not so great, you see my classmate Lila, you probably remember her? She says that she saved your cat?"
"I never had a cat." Jagged sounded confused.
Alya jumped in right away, "Because it was a kitten!" She glared at Marinette, "Maybe you should keep the story straight when trying to make someone look like a liar."
Jagged's voice came over the phone sounding confused, "I never had a kitten either. I'm allergic to cats and they don't rock n' roll enough for my image as Fang does. Who is this girl that says she saved my cat?"
Alya shut up as Marinette angled her phone so Jagged could see Lila and the class could see him. "Don't you recognize Lila? She is the one who saved your cat! And then you wrote a song about her to thank her."
"Okay, first, I don't know this girl. I have never met her in my life! Second, I will never write a song about a minor. I wrote one for Ladybug and Chat Noir, but they are freaking superheroes." Jagged seemed concerned on the call, leaning away to call someone off-screen. He looked back at Marinette. "Who is saying this, have they been posting this online?"
"Well yeah, why?"
Jagged didn't answer, listening to someone off-screen. He nodded and said, "Okay, call our lawyer and get them to delete this Ladyblog."
"What?!" Alya shrieked. She rushed forward and snatched the phone out of Marinette's hands. "Mr. Stone, I can remove the videos, please don't delete my blog. Please, please don't do this."
Jagged gave Alya a stern look, "Young lady, clearly you failed to check your sources properly. If you posted everything this Lila girl has been telling you, then you have a lot more to be afraid of then just me deleting your blog. Say bye to Marinette for me." Without another word Jagged hung up, leaving a stunned Alya and an equally shocked class.
Marinette felt her heart drop, she did not expect Jagged to go after Alya's blog like this. But then again, what was Jagged supposed to do? Adrien walked past Marinette and plucked her phone out of Alya's hands. He guided Marinette back to their seats, knowing Alya was too unstable to be close to right then. Nino started towards her, then hesitated.
Lila looked around panicking as everyone began to glare at her, her illusion clearly shattered. Then Alya screamed. Everyone jumped, looking to her as Lila took her chance to run away. Alya pointed a finger at Marinette, "YOU! THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" Adrien moved in between Marinette and Alya protectively. "YOU KNEW SHE WAS A LIAR AND DIDN'T TELL US!"
"Alya, I tried to tell all of you and you never listened," Marinette replied.
"YES, I DID."
"Alya, Marinette told you the truth and you called her jealous," Adrien pointed out. Marinette blushed as she remembered that Adrien now knew about her crush on him. "That's not listening to your friends, that's making excuses because she said something you didn't want to hear."
"SHE NEVER HAD PROOF OF LILA'S CLAIMS BEFORE!" Alya wasn't calming down at all, seeming to be intent on blaming all her problems on Marinette.
"Alya, that is enough!" Ms. Bustier intervened at last, placing an open bottle of scotch back in her desk drawer. While the class had been yelling about some teenage drama, she poured some into her coffee. She had to get through the day after all. "Take your seat now. Where is Lila?" Nobody saw her leave, she had slipped out during all the yelling and Ms. Bustier's drinking.
Alya looked to Nino, "Come on, let's go Nino." She started walking down the stairs without waiting for his answer.
"No." The answer came as a surprise to everyone. Alya stopped and looked at him with a sense of betrayal, then turned her back on him. She sat by herself in the front row, her world shattered.
Adrien
The class was still divided as Adrien walked into the cafeteria. Marinette, Chloe, and Juleka sat at a table in the corner together, Marinette clearly interested in Chloe's new hair colors. Rose was watching them from across the room, sitting with Sabrina, Mylene, and Ivan. Alix, Kim, Max, and Nathaniel sat together, Alix and Kim arm wrestling while the other two cheered on their side.
The only ones missing were Alya and Nino. Curious Adrien ventured into the halls. Rounding a corner, he bumped into Kagami. "Hey, Kagami."
"Adrien," she nodded, a small smile forming. "I thought you would be having lunch now?"
"Yeah, I'm just looking for Alya and Nino," Adrien explained.
Kagami quickly frowned, "You might want to leave them alone for a bit. I just saw Nino walking out of school, Alya running after him yelling. I think he broke up with her."
Adrien sighed, another thing broken by Lila's lies. "I'm pretty sure the only couple in our class that didn't break up was Mylene and Ivan. Rose and Juleka seemed to have argued and you said Alya and Nino just broke up."
"No other couples, right?" Kagami asked. She knew Marinette loved Adrien and that Adrien liked Marinette. And Kagami wasn't sure if she was ready to step aside for Marinette.
Adrien gave her an inquisitive look, "What do you mean?"
"It's not important. So what about you? Anyone special?" Kagami asked curiously.
"I've been talking with Marinette a lot lately. She lets me talk and listens," Adrien said, a smile on his face. "I feel more like myself around her."
Kagami felt jealous, not aware of Adrien and Marinette hanging out more. "So you two are dating?"
"What? No, I mean, I know she likes me, but we never really talked about it." Kagami felt a bit more relieved at that statement, but not convinced. Adrien continued, "Being with her, it's freeing."
"So you know of her feelings?" Kagami asked, fearing the answer.
"Yeah, but I don't want to force her to talk about it. I wanna let her have her space and feel comfortable before we talk about it." The pair entered the cafeteria, Adrien breaking away to go get food.
Kagami headed straight for Marinette's table. There was an open spot to Marinette's left, Juleka sitting on her right. "Hello," she greeted, receiving smiles from Marinette and Juleka while Chloe narrowed her eyes.
Marinette greeted her, "Hi, Kagami. What's up?"
"I'm making a move on Adrien." It was blunt, but Kagami believed one should always be direct. "You've been spending time with him and had plenty of chances to tell me how you feel."
Marinette opened and closed her mouth, Juleka staring wide-eyed while Chloe smirked. Before any of them could respond, Adrien sat down at the table. "Nice hair, Chloe."
Before Chloe could reply, Kagami interrupted, "Adrien, do you want to get ice cream after school?"
Adrien gave her a sad apologetic smile, "Sorry, Kagami, but I have a photo shoot and I'm hanging out with Marinette before that already."
"Maybe Saturday?" Kagami asked, intent on getting some time alone with Adrien.
"Sorry, scheduled for shoots all day," Adrien shrugged apologetically.
Kagami frowned and was about to open her mouth again when her phone buzzed. She picked it up and listened for a moment before responding. "Okay, I will be there soon. She turned to face the others sitting at the table. "Sorry, I must leave to meet my mother." Without another word, the fencer left.
Marinette turned back to Chloes, "So what happened after Luka found you two?"
Chloe grinned, "He stared, then told us I would look better in blue. The next thing I know, they are fighting over who gets to color my hair." Adrien and Marinette burst out in laughter while Juleka blushed, her face on fire. Chloe grinned as she continued, "I managed to convince them to work together and this masterpiece happened." She indicated her hair, a huge grin on her face.
"Do you think I could dye my hair?" Adrien asked curiously. "Like pink or neon green."
Chloe smirked, "Why so rebellious Adrien? Wanna stick it to the man like your friend Chloe?"
"How did you not get grounded for that?" Adrien inquired. Marinette didn't hear Chloe's response, looking at Adrien, wondering how he would look with dyed hair. She decided that he would still be irresistible.
Nino
Alya looked at him, tears streaming out of her eyes. "Nino, please, I need you. I don't know what is real anymore."
"Me neither," Nino admitted. "I'm not sure about us anymore, Alya. I think we should just take a break." Nino walked into the school, leaving Alya alone on the front steps crying. Nino sighed, cursing Lila under his breath. The class had a lot of work to do before everyone hung out again, but even then things will never be the same. Nino hated change.