In the morning, Adrien awoke feeling lightheaded and dizzy.

"Hey, take it easy." Plagg said softly.

"What…?" Nausea washed over him, settling unpleasantly in his tummy. "My stomach…"

"Yeah. Just take your time sitting up."

This didn't make sense. He had taken two ibuprofen before bed. Was this the after effects of shock? Or was there something wrong with Madam Cheng's soup?

"What's going on?"

"You don't remember?"

Rubbing his eyes to wake up more and shake off the dizziness, Adrien sat up in bed…no. On the couch.

His room was trashed. All the books and movies were pulled off the shelves, his bedding was bunched up in the corner, and there were feathers everywhere from his pillows. The clothes from his closet were all over the bed and strewn on the floor.

Glancing towards the bathroom, it appeared to have been raided as well.

"What…?"

"Your father came back in after you went to bed. I left Ladybug's house around 5am and came here. You and your father were fighting…but you were really…you were acting weird. I couldn't understand what you were saying. Some of it was Chinese, and some of it was just garbage. You swung your fists at him, but he just kept tearing your room apart. I think he was looking for the Miraculous."

"Ugh. I guess that trust wasn't very deep." He rested his head in his hands, and then winced. His face hurt.

Slowly and staggering, he made his way to the bathroom, only to find that his left eye was bruised.

"I think he…he gave you something." Plagg said sadly. He was holding onto his tail, something he only did when he was genuinely scared or sad.

"What? Like I was drugged?"

"I think so. If you don't remember any of that."

"I...I remember you leaving and then going to bed. But that's it."

"Yeah. I think your father drugged you."

Adrien combed his disheveled hair, taming it into something less chaotic. Then he walked back to sit at the end of his bed, staring at the chaos of his room. He hoped his father wasn't expecting him to clean all this up.

"I don't know why I expected better from a man who had Lila stalking me." His voice was calm, despite the raging storm inside his chest.

His father was dead, the man known as Gabriel Agreste was just a husk full of garbage. Desperate, illogical, garbage.

"I'm glad I'm leaving for a while." He stood, and picked through the clothes that were scattered everywhere.

He didn't really want to be a model today. Though he didn't own many clothes that his father hadn't designed, but picking an outfit that was 'so last year' would be a start.

A comfortable cashmere creme cardigan, over a thin, black v-neck, and stonewashed jeans.

Comfortable, and boring. Perfect.

Adrien collected his book bag, making sure his homework was still in one piece. The bag had been upturned, but his tablet was okay.

Finally, he turned his phone off and left it on his desk.

"You're up early," Plagg commented. "If you leave now, no one will be at the school."

"Then I won't go to the school. Bakeries are open early."

Plagg smiled, and zipped into a pocket on his cardigan.

Downstairs, he was unsurprised to be escorted by Nathalie into the dining room.

His father was there, waiting to have breakfast with him. For the first time in what felt like forever.

"Good morning, son." Gabriel spoke, plainly and without shame.

How dare he. How dare he try to act like everything was peaches and creme. How dare he just sit there!

Adrien clenched his bag strap. "Father."

"Oh come now, don't be like that. Come and sit, there's breakfast."

Adrien glared at him. "So I'm just supposed to ignore my black eye?"

"No, of course not. We'll put some cover up on it."

Adrien shook his head. "I told you I trusted you. You said you trusted me. Apparently, you lied."

"Adrien..."

Adrien took out his wallet, and took out the note he had written last night. He placed it on the table next to his father.

"I'm not hungry." He stated, before leaving the room.

Even when his father called after him, Adrien kept moving. He couldn't stop. Not until he was free!

The mansion doors slammed shut behind him, and he sprinted to the gate.

There was no stopping him now.

—

Marinette woke up at her first alarm. Not rested. Not really possible when you're awakened in the middle of the night with the biggest news of them all.

"Good morning, Marinette." Tikki spoke softly, as one would talk to someone with a hangover.

"Morning. You guys have a fun time last night?"

"Hmm...sort of. It was fun to have everyone together. But we spent a long time just talking with Nooroo. It was…emotional."

"Oh. Gabriel didn't treat him well?"

"Nooroo was only allowed to call him 'Master'."

Marinette scoffed in disgust. "When things are a little more under control, I'll take him out and talk with him. As of right now, Chat and I are the only ones that know Hawkmoth is gone. I don't even know how we announce it."

"You should probably talk to Chat first. The man is still around. Or maybe not! He should probably go to jail."

"If he hasn't already left Paris." Marinette stated as she rose from bed.

Oh.

But what about Adrien?

How was she supposed to explain this to him? 'Hi, love of my life, your father is a terrorist, and I have to put him in jail! Hope this won't put a damper on our relationship!'

Damn it all to hell. Adrien would never speak to her again. This would completely ruin him. Because how do you deal with something like that? The only parent you have left, put in jail by the girl you thought you loved. There was just no coming back from it.

Marinette rested her head in her hands. "What do I do, Tikki?"

"Talk. To. Chat." Tikki pressed. "Don't do anything until then! You don't know the whole story!"

"Yeah…" She sighed. "Man, I thought defeating Hawkmoth meant less stress, not more."

"Just different stress." Tikki tutted, bringing her her hairbrush.

"Thanks." She took out her hair ties and brushed her hair. "Ugh, and now I have to go to school and face everyone after that blow up I had yesterday. I can't."

"You have Nino and Adrien though!"

"I can't bare to look at Adrien. I think…I might cry if I do."

Tikki rubbed against her cheek. "I don't think Adrien would hold it against you. His father brought this upon himself. And he will know that."

"I just…I don't want to be the one to tell him."

"Let's just worry about getting through the school day first."

"Yeah. Okay. You're right."

Today called for a creme colored cardigan, over her favorite black t-shirt (the one that was a little worn and stretchy), and a pair of distressed jeans. She opted for a bun as well, wanting to distance herself from Ladybug for the day.

"You know..." thought Tikki, as Marinette gathered her school supplies. "Now that Hawkmoth is gone, you really could tell your parents. It might clear up some lingering distrust, and they could be on alert for the Miracle Box when you aren't home."

Marinette considered it, shouldering her bag. "It would clear things up..."

"It's your choice of course. Just something to consider."

"Yeah. I think that's a good idea! I'll tell them at dinner! And they can be the first civilians to know that Hawkmoth is gone!"

Newly motivated, Marinette skipped down the steps to breakfast.

However, it wasn't just her mother in the kitchen.

"Hey Marinette," Adrien said shyly. He glanced her over. "I guess one of us will have to change."

It didn't even compute with her that he was talking about her outfit.

His eye. He had a black eye. And besides that, he looked like a crumpled mess.

"Adrien? What—what happened?"

"Uh...little disagreement with my father. Your mom said I could stay with you guys, but I wanted to make sure you were cool with it."

"Me? Sure! Of course!"

"Good, because there's no one I'd rather trust." He furrowed his brows a little more. "I have to be able to trust someone."

God. Like a punch in the gut. Sure, he trusted her now, when he knew she was Ladybug. But once he found out his father was Hawkmoth, and she put him in jail? Game over. Trust broken. Heart broken.

She sat across from him, and held his hand. "You can trust me, Adrien. I only have your best interests at heart."

He smiled at her. The doom and gloom seemed to flit away as adoration took its place.

'Talk to Chat first' Tikki's voice reminded her in her mind. 'You don't know the whole story.'

Oh god! What if the disagreement was over the Miraculous? What if Adrien suffered because of Chat?

This was unfair.

Damn Gabriel.

"Omelets!" Sabine sang, placing plates in front of them. "And for you dear." She gave Adrien a cold pack for his face.

"Thank you Madam Cheng."

"Of course sweetie. If you need anything else, just let me know. And you can call me Sabine, or whatever you're most comfortable with."

"Thank you, Sabine." He smiled briefly.

"If you're staying with us, do you need someone to get some clothes and stuff?" Asked Marinette.

"No, I snuck a bag out last night. It's at school."

"How did you manage that?"

Adrien bit his lip. "I got some help from Chat Noir."

Her eyes widened, and she spoke quietly. "So...do you...you know, know?"

"Yeah. I promise I'll tell you everything later, but..." he glanced over at her mom. "We have other things to deal with."

Marinette understood what he was getting at, and decided to shelf the conversation. At least until she talked to Chat. Once she had all sides of the story, she could come up with a solution that benefited everyone. "I'm not really looking forward to school. Especially with what happened yesterday."

He chuckled. "Oh my god, that was just yesterday. I had a long night."

"I bet."

"I didn't mean to change the subject. I'm safe now, so let's worry about you."

"It's okay, Adrien, really. We've got each other's backs, okay?"

"Yeah."

Marinette glanced at her phone. "Still haven't heard from Alya. I don't know if Nino didn't get through, or if she's waiting to talk to me in person."

"Well, I know it sucks, but maybe just let her go?"

She shrugged. "I mean, maybe. Her manipulation tactic yesterday hurt really bad. But she's the one that's fueling Lila. Since she wants to be a reporter so bad, I want her to consider that she may get bad leads."

"Wait, manipulation tactic? What did she say? There was a lot happening yesterday and I don't know if I caught everything."

"She said something like, 'the way you are acting is really hurting me' when I was the one that was really upset. Granted, Lila was the one that gave her that idea."

"Why is that manipulative?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"She was trying to make me feel guilty because I was angry. I was upsetting her because I was upset. You see?"

It was like a lightbulb went on in Adrien's head, as his eyes widened, before his head dropped on the table. "So many people have used that on me, and I've fallen for it every time."

"Oh Adrien..."

"Thank you," he said, sitting up. "I guess there's still a lot for me to learn about social cues."

"It's okay! I can help you."

"Hate to interrupt," said Sabine, "but if you kids want to take advantage of being up early, you better leave now!"

"Thanks Maman! See you at lunch."

"Have a good day, you two!"

As they passed Tom in the bakery, he gave Marinette a kiss on the cheek, and rubbed Adrien's head.

Then they leisurely made their way to school.

"Can I hold your hand?" Asked Adrien.

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "Have you asked me out?" She blinked. "Wait, that's not what the argument was about, right? With your father?"

"No, no Marinette, he actually thinks you're fine. We had a good talk before everything went down...but still, I got some other loose ends. Not yet, but soon. But, close friends who will soon be dating can hold hands, right?"

"Especially if they're both having a rough time."

"Yes, especially then." He took her hand, and intertwined their fingers.

Marinette gave a happy hum and had an extra bounce in her step.

"You got happy all of a sudden," Adrien commented.

"I'm holding Adrien's hand! If you would have told last week Marinette about this, she wouldn't have believed you."

"Last week Marinette is missing out." He grinned.

She squeezed his hand.

At school, they had just cleared the door before they heard Lila's pathetic wailing.

"Now what?" They said in tandem.

Walking closer, they got let in on the story.

"—told me if I ever told anyone, I'd be fired! But I just couldn't take it anymore! Not after what Marinette did to me yesterday! I told Gabriel exactly what Adrien did! And he didn't believe me! He called me a liar and fired me!"

Marinette and Adrien shared a look.

"I knew this was going to happen." He lamented.

"And then Marinette's mother called mine and told her I deserved to be bullied! That I deserved to be molested!"

Looking around the group assembled, some had looks of horror, while others held looks of disbelief.

"Sabine said that?" Asked Alix, one of the doubters. "I...I can't even imagine that."

"It's true! My mom talked to her and everything! We're getting a lawyer."

And then, Lila noticed Adrien and Marinette standing in the back of the crowd, listening.

And of course, Adrien never covered up his bruise.

"Look! Just look at him! That's where I punched him after he groped me!"

All heads swiveled to look at Adrien, followed by a round of gasps.

"Dude..." Nino stared at him. "What happened to you?"

"I already told you, Nino!" Lila bawled. "He touched me! He's a sex offender! Please, you have to believe me!"

Nino have a long sigh. "Dude. We were just talking yesterday about how he and Kagami were together. I really don't want to be a victim denier, but this whole story seems really fishy." He turned back to Adrien. "What really happened?"

Not deterred by Lila's story, Adrien covered his face. "I had...a little disagreement with my father."

"Oh yeah? What about?" Asked Kim.

Adrien winced. "It's not really anyone's business. I don't want to talk about it."

"A likely story!" Said Sabrina. "But Chloe said you're a bad liar!"

Ivan cracked his knuckles. "If you touched her, you'll be dealing with more than a black eye when I'm done with you."

Marinette rested a hand on Ivan's fist. "Adrien didn't touch Lila. She's been the one touching him. Adrien finally told his dad last night, and that's why she was fired. I was there when he called his dad."

Adrien appreciated Marinette stepping in. He was having a hard time staying calm.

But no reason to worry about becoming an Akuma!

"Funny how you claimed she was threatening you, when you were the one threatening her. Now you're the one claiming she's sexually harassing him? That's so stupid, guys can't be sexually harassed!" Kim spouted this nugget of wisdom, and Adrien trembled.

"How would you like it, if every goddamn day of your life you had to let some girl hang off of you, no matter how mean or cruel, no matter how uncomfortable. And you just had to smile about it?" Adrien grit out, with thinly veiled rage.

"I'd count myself lucky. As a male model, you get to be surrounded by hot chicks all the time! How is that a bad thing?"

"Because I don't want them!" Adrien shouted. "I don't want Lila, or Kagami, or Chloe! I don't want Eva, or Annette, or Marlina! I just want—"

My Lady.

He screwed up his face, swallowing back his pain. He didn't want to talk about last night. He didn't want to tell his classmates. He only wanted to tell those he trusted. And that was a very small pool right now.

"My black eye is none of your business. I don't want to talk about it. But it has nothing to do with Lila. Yes, I told my father I was being sexually harassed by her, and I asked if I could not model with her anymore. Given that she lied to get Marinette expelled, I had a feeling she would lie about me too. He made the decision to let her go."

"I didn't lie to get Marinette expelled!" Lila protested.

"But you admitted to having a lying disease! And you took back all those claims to get me back in school! Why should anyone believe you right now? How are you all not considering if this is a 'side effect' of her 'disease'?!" Marinette protested.

For the first time since their arrival, Alya finally spoke up. "The coffee was cold yesterday."

Everyone looked at her, somewhat put off by the seemingly random subject change.

"The coffee that Marinette spilled on Lila that gave her third degree burns. Marinette poured the rest of it on my hand. It was cold."

Lila sat in silence.

"Well," Alix spoke. "I don't know who to believe anymore. And frankly, it's none of my business, like Adrien said. I'm done with drama."

"Yeah, me too." Said Rose, sadly. "I just want us all to get along."

"Like we did before Lila?" Nino asked.

"Nino!" Lila gaped at him. "It's not my fault Marinette got jealous! That's unfair!"

"Sure dude." He shrugged.

Then, blessedly, the bell rang.

Marinette, Adrien, Nino, and Alya lingered behind as the rest of the class wandered to class.

"So," Alya began, "If I can be totally honest, I'm torn. I do think Lila has...something wrong with her. Whether she has some illness that makes her lie, or she's a narcissist? I don't know. I don't know if I believe she's doing this on purpose either. She's been so nice and so sweet. She's babysat when you had to bail last minute. I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place. I don't want to pick sides."

Marinette nodded. "I understand. It is difficult when you're in between friends. Do you trust me, Alya?"

Alya screwed up her lips in a frown, considering the thought. Then she looked over to the boys.

Marinette touched her shoulder and directed her gaze back over. "Don't look at them. Look inside yourself. Just be honest with me. You know I won't get mad. Do you trust me?"

Alya glanced down to her shoes. "I want to, but..."

Marinette just watched her carefully.

"You bail a lot. You disappear, you give really flimsy excuses. You forget about things. Most of the class hasn't picked up on it, but I know you lie to me sometimes. You're allowed to have your secrets, and I know you aren't trying to hurt me...I just..." she clenched her fists. "I don't know."

Alya was observant and a reporter at heart. Of course she'd pick up on this.

"Alya, you're my best friend. I do have secrets, and one day, I'd love to tell you. But right now, it's safer for you not to know."

That didn't really instill Alya with faith. "I guess that's fair."

"I don't want your blind trust, Alya. All I want is for you to do your own critical thinking, and check your sources."

Alya rolled her eyes. "So everything Lila says is a lie?"

"I didn't say that. But if several things she says are untrue, maybe you should double check her claims. You know that the coffee yesterday was cold. And you know my mother would never tell someone they deserved to be bullied. She did call Lila's mom yesterday. I don't know what she said, but I know it came from a place of concern."

"It comes down to integrity, Alya." Said Adrien. "Sometimes people fail and lie, but their character should still speak for them. Do I seem like the kind of person that would grope a girl?"

Alya actually chuckled at that. "You are probably the least likely. You're a literal ball of sunshine."

"My mother taught me to be a gentleman at all times. Especially when I'm famous and working with women. If I was creepy and skeevy, no one would doubt if a woman made a claim against me. And by being kind and a gentlemen, it's least likely that someone would lie like that to take advantage of me in the first place. Fake rape and molestation charges are something males in our industry face a lot. They ruin our reputation, and make it harder for real cases to get justice. It sucks."

"So, you never touched Lila?"

"I only touched what I was instructed to during shoots, like her arm or her waist. Never any more than that. I have zero attraction to her. But like I said, she had touched me...not anything that would be considered molesting, but she grabbed my arm and rubbed my chest. She grabbed my butt once. I told my dad I didn't like it, and I feared that she'd pull this exact scenario if I crossed her. After all, she lied to get Marinette expelled. The only reason she double lied to get her back in school was because I let her model with me in exchange."

Alya frowned harder. "Lila's behavior yesterday gave me some red flags. How she had outed Marinette's crush like that...that was cruel. I don't care what kind of beef you have with someone, that's against the girl code. I just...need some time."

Nino wrapped an arm around her. "Let's go to class. Later, let's take a look at some of her stories you put on the blog. We'll make a threshold of deniability. If she's exaggerating, we can let things go, but if there are straight lies, we have to consider if a friendship with her is worth it."

Alya nodded, rubbing her eye. "Yeah. That sounds like a good idea." She managed a smile for both Adrien and Marinette. "Is there a reason you're matching today?"

They hadn't even noticed.

"Comfort clothes." They both said, then chuckled.

Miss Bustier came out of the teachers lounge. "What are kids doing out here still? If you can beat me to the classroom, I won't mark you tardy!"

The four sprinted up to the classroom.