Marinette:

What was I doing, sitting on the floor of the locker room with Adrien Agreste? It seemed so messed up, but so right at the same time. I didn't want him to find out that I had confronted Lila, because he told me to let it lie, but I couldn't really stop him from finding out. He brushed my hair away from my face, and I didn't need to look at his expression to know that he saw the scratch.

"Marinette, what happened?" His voice was gentle and laced with concern, and I couldn't find any words to say. I broke down. I cried my eyes out in front of my crush. What was I thinking? But Adrien didn't walk away. He didn't even hesitate. He drew me in with an embrace, and I rested my head on his shoulder. I just let the tears flow until they didn't come anymore. Adrien deserved an explanation.

"I-It w-was…" I tried to force the words out, but I ended up stuttering worse than usual. "M-my fault." That was all I could say.

We sat in silence for a couple of minutes, the only noises coming from the classrooms across the hall.

"What happened to your cheek?" Adrien's voice was barely a whisper.

"L-Lila." I felt Adrien's arm tense.

"She did that to you?" He was practically yelling now. "But how can you say it's your fault then?"

"I made her do it."

Adrien raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I did exactly was you told me not to do. I provoked her." I wanted to cry some more, but I didn't. It wouldn't have done any good anyway. I just mumbled, "Sorry."

"It's alright. We'll talk about this later. Why don't I take you home now? You're in no condition to go back to class, and I don't want you anywhere near that...that brat Lila for the rest of the day." I wanted to protest going home, but I couldn't find the words to say no.

"But what will I tell my parents?"

"I'll say you weren't feeling well, take you up to your room, and bring you the lessons at the end of the day. If you're feeling better by then, we can talk about what happened with Lila." I just nodded. I didn't deserve him.

We slipped out of the school and began the short walk across the street to my house. Adrien grabbed my hand and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. I knew everything was going to work out as long as he still believed me. We walked into the bakery, where Maman gave me a confused look.

"Hi, Mrs. Dupain-Cheng."

"Hello, Adrien." My mom answered skeptically. "What are you two doing home now?"

"Marinette wasn't feeling well, so I walked her home. I'll drop off her lessons after school if that's alright, ma'am."

Maman smiled at him and nodded. After all, who could say no to Adrien Agreste?

After we got up to my room, I thanked Adrien and gave him a kiss on the cheek, the same way I did at the Heroes' Day picnic. I saw him blush slightly before rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"So I'll see you after school then, Marinette. Feel better." He gave me his trademark wink and descended the stairs. Of course, it made me feel instantly better. I knew I would be ready to talk to him by this afternoon.

Adrien:

I walked Marinette up the stairs to her room and said a silent prayer that she would be alright. She seemed to be feeling better though. We stood in her room for an awkward moment before she said, "Thanks, Adrien." I was about to say something back, but she cupped my chin in her hands and kissed me on the cheek. I couldn't remember what I was going to say to her, so I just told her I'd see her after school and winked at her. What was I thinking, winking at her? That was a lame thing to do.

I thought about the kiss all the way back to school, but I had to push it out of my mind when I got back to school.

"Agreste, would you like to explain your brief absence this morning?" Uh oh. I scrolled through my mind, trying to come up with some believable excuse that I could tell the principal.

"Um...well, Mr. Damocles, sir, I...I had a headache, so I went to the nurse's office. She gave me some medicine for it and told me to rest for a little while, so I did. I was just on my way back to class now." I faked a smile.

Mr. Damocles sighed. "Alright, Adrien. Get to class."

"Thank you, sir!" I was off the hook for that one, but now I had to deal with Lila for another half an hour. It was much worse than I thought. I walked into the room and everyone glared at me as if I was Public Enemy #1 or something.

"How dare you, Adrikins?" Chloe yelled as if I had committed a major crime.

"Um...what?" I took my seat next to Nino. "What the heck is going on, Nino?"

He just stared at me. "You don't know?" I shook my head. "Well, short story, Lila accused you of cheating on her with Marinette."

Was I hearing him right? "What? Why?"

Nino sighed. "Nobody knows where you've been for the past half an hour, just that you were with Marinette. Lila made up some story about how the two of you were going out, and now everybody thinks you were cheating on her."

I was so done with today. I just wanted it to be over. I was looking forward to patrol tonight so I could get out and clear my head, but that wasn't for another 8 hours.

I stumbled my way through the rest of the day, grateful for a little time away from that hellhole during lunch break. At the final bell, I grabbed my things and practically ran out of the school, directly to Marinette's house.

"Marinette's upstairs." Her father greeted me at the door. "She's been waiting for you." I smiled in return and walked upstairs. I knocked on the trapdoor to her room.

"Come in." I opened the door to find Marinette sitting at her desk, working on a new purse design.

"I have your homework."

She gave me a warm smile. "Thanks. You're the best."

"You seem to be feeling better." I commented.

"I am, a little."

"How's the scratch?"

"Better. It still hurts a little, but it's not bleeding anymore at least."

"Good." I was just making small talk. I wanted to avoid telling her about the rumors at school, but I had to at some point. I didn't want her to find out on her own and have even more false drama to deal with. "Listen, Marinette, there's been more rumors going around…" I began.

She sighed. "Lila again?"

I could only nod in response.

"Well, what is it this time?"

"She spread a rumor that I was her boyfriend, and now she's convinced the whole class that I'm cheating on her with you. Now everyone hates me too."

Marinette let out a nervous chuckle. "Join the club."

"Maybe we should talk tomorrow. I don't think it would do either of us any good to be seen together now."

She nodded. "Yeah. Maybe you'd better go." I left her the homework I had brought home for her and left, still anxious for patrol that night.

Marinette:

I couldn't believe her! Saying she was dating Adrien and that he cheated on her? With me? Lila was the literal devil. I was ready for patrol that night. So ready that right after dinner, I went out, even though it was only 7:00 and I wasn't meeting Cat Noir until half past.

"Tikki, spots on!" It felt great to run across the rooftops, breathing in the night air as I made my way to the Eiffel Tower where we were meeting that night. But when I got there, I noticed something. Cat Noir was there already. He must have gone out early as well.

"Hey." His green cat eyes seemed to glow in the darkness of the night.

"Hey, Cat." I jumped down to where he was.

"Good to see you again, m'lady." He bowed down and planted a kiss on my knuckles. It was nothing new. He did it almost every time I saw him. But still, it felt good to know that there was someone else on my side.

He inched a little closer to me and gave me a Cheshire cat grin. "Ready?" I turned to him and nodded, grateful to have something in my head besides Lila. At least she wasn't spreading rumors about Ladybug. Yet. I wouldn't put it past her. As I looked at Cat Noir, his eyes grew wide in shock.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked.

He averted his gaze and said, "No, I'm good." I knew he wasn't 'good' though, because he seemed a little out of it for the rest of the night.

Adrien:

I went out early to be alone for a little while, but my solitude only lasted for about five minutes before I saw Ladybug heading towards the Eiffel Tower. I was grateful to have her company at least. We made some small talk, I don't really remember the details, but she turned to look at me. Even in the dark of the night, I could see it on her cheek. A scratch. Like Marinette's. So many thoughts were going through my head, and I couldn't think straight.

I remember Ladybug looking at me, filled with confusion and concern, and she asked me if something was wrong. "No, I'm good." It was all I could say. I tried to act normal, but I knew she could tell something was wrong. Sooner or later, I would have to confront her, though.