Ok. Never in my life have I ever had to Google the best and worst types of cheese. And I know Mari probably seems OOC and probably has been since chapter 1, but all will be revealed...next chapter. Maybe.

Part 3

The class stood in silence at Marinette's confession. Alya opened and closed her mouth at least twice before leaning against her desk. Marinette chewed her bottom lip as she glanced at Adrien mournfully. Adrien cocked a brow at her expression, but she turned back to Chloe. "If you're satisfied, Chloe, I'm going." Chloe couldn't bring herself to counter Marinette's claim before the girl ran from the room.

A moment of silence passed before Alya pushed away from the desk and chased after her friend, shouting her name. Adrien wanted to go after her, but Nino grabbed his shoulder. The model glanced at his friend who merely shook his head. "Let it be, man. Mari's never really dated before so I'm sure this isn't how she wanted it to come out."

Chloe's snort directed their attention to the prep. "Oh please. Who in their right mind would date that girl? Probably some freaky Chinese arrangement. Have you met her mother's family? Total nut jobs." Sabrina nodded faithfully at her side.

Adrien shook off Nino's hand to approach Chloe. "Really, Chloe? That wasn't cool."

The blonde batted her lashes at him. "Well, neither is Marinette. You met her uncle."

The boy narrowed his eyes at her. "That's a new low, Chloe." Turning on his heel, he dashed out the door to find Marinette. He had to find her and learn the truth. Marinette had mentioned before that she hated liars, so there was no way she was lying about her date. And he knew there was no way their talk last night was considered a date in her eyes even if they did kiss. But, why would she kiss him if there was someone else?

Was that why she had been so upset? Was there someone else? Like an arranged marriage? Surely not. He had met her parents and her uncle. They valued their Chinese heritage and culture, but they would never force Marinette to do something she didn't want.

He rounded the corner to the locker room and came to a screeching halt. His rubber soles no doubt leaving scuffs on the floor. Marinette sat crumbled on the floor against her locker as Alya comforted her; the darker girl's arm slung around her best friend's shoulder. Marinette's knees were pulled up to her chest; her arms squeezing them closer and her face burrowed atop her slender arms. Alya glanced at Adrien almost desperately.

He felt a tightness in his chest as he approached. He wasn't supposed to know about her crush on him. But, he supposed he could use it to his advantage. Even if she no longer liked him, surely her feelings weren't completely gone. And there was no way he could become Chat and explain why he knew Marinette's trouble or that he went to her college. But, he had to calm her down. Before Hawk Moth targeted her. At least, that's what he told himself.

"Marinette?" He whispered as he knelt before her. The girl shrunk further into herself. Adrien glanced at Alya for help and the blogger shook her head in confusion. Turning his attention fully to her, he gently reached out for her. Alya pulled her arm away when she realized Adrien's intention. His hands tenderly cupped her shoulders as his thumbs rubbed soothing circles. He was suddenly thankfully she had left when she had. If she had heard Chloe's racist words, she would have been akumatized on the spot. Frankly, he was surprised she had lasted this long without running into a little black butterfly. "Marinette," he tried again. "It's very important that you look at me."

The girl shook her head, her tails bobbing against his fingers. Slowly, his hands drew closer to the throat. They turned upwards to curl against his cheeks. He expected her to put up a fight, but she didn't, as he lifted her face up. He released the breath he had been holding when he saw no butterfly marks on her face.

Alya murmured, "I've been watching the whole time. Nothing came close to her. Didn't even see one."

Adrien nodded in understanding as he wiped at her tears with his thumbs. He would still check on her tonight as Chat. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Marinette shook her head in his gentle hands. Her sapphire eyes covered in a layer of fresh tears that she kept at bay. "I…can't…" She mumbled. Her voice warbled and a few warm, thick tears fell across his thumbs. She closed her eyes against the new onslaught.

Alya sighed. "She won't tell me anything either. I've not even heard about any guys. Yeah, she's busy, but I don't get it. Chloe's never made a big deal about Marinette missing a meeting here or there! Heck," the girl threw her hands in the air in desperation. "Chloe never goes to the meetings! It's probably because she wants to be voted queen or something at that stupid dance!"

Abruptly it clicked for Adrien. The meeting last night was supposed to be about the upcoming dance. Of course, Chloe would be nasty to Marinette about missing that one. He shook his head in disgust. She was no doubt using her father's technique of mud smearing to increase her chances for being nominated queen for the event. Despite how nice Marinette was to everyone, if they thought she was already with someone, no one would ask her and if her boyfriend went to another school, he wouldn't be able to be nominated for king. They wouldn't want to put her in an awkward spot by pairing her with a guy she wasn't in a relationship with.

But he knew it was all a lie. Expect…why did Marinette say she had a date? Maybe it was just a coffee type thing? Maybe she was just agreeing with Chloe to end the argument.

"So…" He cleared his throat and Marinette peaked an eye open. "What's this guy like? If he treats you bad, I may have to meet him myself." He chuckled awkwardly.

Marinette opened her other eye and glanced away from Adrien, chewing her bottom lip. "He's…" She swallowed thickly and burrowed her chin deeper in her arm cave causing Adrien to remove his hands from her face. He moved them to hang in his lap uselessly. She shook her head, seeming to decide against something. "He's nice and funny, but I'm not sure if I love him. But I must force myself to. And that scares me."

Adrien and Alya both looked dumbstruck. "What?" They deadpanned together.

He thought of Chloe's words and wondered if she knew something the rest didn't. Was she locked in an arrangement marriage? No. He had to stop it. She clearly didn't want it and he would do everything in his power to keep her from being chained down. He would be damned if he was going to give up on both Ladybug and Marinette for their own good only to have one of them restrained. He knew what it was like to live a life being trapped in a gilded cage and he refused to let Marinette suffer like that. That very reason was why he had to let her go.

"If you don't love him," Adrien began slowly as he worked to keep his voice steady. "Then break it off. We'll support you."

She shook her head again. "I can't break it off. And the worst part…" She closed her eyes in despair as if the next bit of news was too devastating to comprehend. "The worst part," she started again after she opened her damp eyes, "is that I do care enough about that I don't want him to be hurt, you know? He's my best friend and while I don't love him, if I don't go with him, something really bad is gonna happen." She popped her mouth closed and looked guilty as if she had said too much.

"Uhg! This is bogus!" Alya shrieked. "No way are we gonna let this happen! Did your parents set you up or something! Is someone forcing you?"

Marinette shook her head. "No…it's just…" She scrubbed her face with palms. "I can't do this!" She blurted. "I'm going home!" She lurched to her feet, nearly knocking over her friends, as she grabbed her pack and ran off.

"Marinette! Wait-" Adrien grabbed her shoulder similarly to how Nino grabbed his own merely twenty minutes ago. "Agreste! I'm going after her!"

He shook his head. "Let's give her some alone time. If something bad happens, I'm sure Ladybug and Chat Noir will save her." It was hypocritical to stop her after he himself had shrugged off Nino's same advice. But, he told himself that he had insider knowledge that their friends didn't. "She'll probably be back at class after lunch and we'll talk after school."

Alya frowned at the model and pointed a finger in his face threateningly. "If an akuma gets her because you stopped me, I'm totally pushing you in her path."

XXX

Marinette never returned to school that afternoon. She didn't even go home like she had told her friends. As she entered the Chinese building, she closed her eyes to force back her tears. She hated lies and in less than an hour she had told two. Blinking them open, she was not surprised to find Master Fu waiting for her with a cup of his green tea. Tikki slowly left Marinette's purse to perch on her shoulder. Her small paw rested on her Chosen's puffy cheek in a show a comfort. Marinette gave her a wet smile before addressing Fu.

"Master…I don't think I can do this. I've told you all since day one that I'm not the right girl."

He smiled kindly at her. "And that, my dear, is exactly why you are Ladybug." He patted the spot beside him. "Come, my dear. Share some tea with this old man."

XXX

Adrien was swept away by Gorilla as soon as the last bell rang. Ayla texted him to surprisingly call off their interview. A subsequent text jokingly alerted him to not skip town for any Gabriel events because she was getting her scoop. Adrien thumbed his phone and almost wondered if he could just shoot her a text about the Volpina incident and be done. However, he figured she would not be satisfied with that.

As they pulled up to the shoot location outside the Louvre, Adrien felt his business smile crack across his face the instant he exited the car and was whisked away to makeup and the changing tent set up outside. Despite it being only April, the shoot was for the upcoming fall line. They had already done a few shots, but Gabriel was of course not content with them for one reason or the other.

The boy allowed himself to be handled and primped as his father's professionals deemed acceptable. Being late winter, the ten-degree weather worked fine with the heavy wool sweater he wore paired with dark jeans. He particularly liked this line and found it easier to relax for the shots asked of him than when he was modeling the swimwear three months ago. Swim trunks and snow do not mix.

Seeing as they only needed to redo three sets, Adrien easily made it to his tutoring lesson on time. The next ninety minutes dragged by slowly. Somewhere along the way, his Chinese lessons had gone from learning the language to learning the history behind the language. Adrien found it grueling and a complete waste of time. He was already fluent, but Father insisted they continue. His tutor must have run out of lessons seeing as it was the third time they reviewed the accent differences between Singapore and Taiwan.

It was past six o'clock when Adrien was finally released from his studies. He trudged up the stairs after Nathalie reminded him Gabriel would not be home for dinner, but it would be served at promptly seven-thirty. Finally making it to his room, he tossed his school bag to the side as Plagg flew out of his white button down pocket. "So…" The cat drawled.

"So what?" Adrien mumbled as he made his way to the couch and plopped down, his face buried in the throw pillow.

"So, are you going to visit your 'princess' and find out what that was all about?"

Adrien shrugged. "I don't know if I can help her," he admitted. All his confidence from earlier in the day had vanished. How could he help her out of an arranged marriage if he couldn't even arrange his own schedule? "Why do you care?" He turned his head to allow for one eye to peak up at the kwami through a strand of blonde hair.

He shrugged. "When you get mopey, I get cheddar." He poked his tiny tongue out in disgust. "It has a nasty zing to it."

The boy huffed and pushed himself up with his arms. "I'll have to go after dinner. Nathalie wants to go over my schedule for this weekend."

Plagg rolled his eyes. "You don't have to sound like it's a chore, Kid. I'm giving you a pass on cat calling your new lady friend and you would rather spend time with your babysitter?" He zoomed to Adrien's eye level and smirked. "Or maybe you would rather snog on Nathalie than Marinette."

"Ok. First, ew," Adrien swatted at the little god. "Second, it's way too early to visit her. She's probably eating dinner with her family or closing up the bakery."

Plagg dropped to the cushion on Adrien's couch. Curling into a tiny ball, he yawned. "Fine. Just don't come crying to me when your girlfriend gets akumatized."