NOTE: this is lilanette no matter what, dont tell me to turn it into adrinette. thx.

also thanks for all of the feedback! i really appreciate it!

Lila had plans. With people she actually wanted to see. Not because of their attention but because she genuinely wanted to know them. And they wanted to genuinely know her.

It had never been like this before. At least, not after beginning to travel with her parents.

After Alya had invited Lila to go hang out with her group of friends, the rest of the week had passed quickly. However, this did not come as a surprise to anyone, because she had been invited on a Friday. As such, only a single night had come and gone, and it was now present-day, Saturday. All they were doing was seeing a movie in the morning, and then having lunch somewhere afterwards. Somehow even Adrien was free, but he would have to leave directly after having lunch. This did not bother Lila. Even though she thought he was no threat to her, he still made her feel kind of eugh after the whole Volpina nonsense.

After all, all she really wanted was to spend more time with Marinette.

No. Lila thought sternly. You are not getting feelings for Marinette until you discover the truth. She reminded herself of Ladybug, and she effectively convinced herself that she totally did not have feelings for Marinette (we all laugh).

Okay, maybe not. But you are not acting on those feelings until you discover the truth. Lila admitted she might have some feelings. But they were probably just little crush feelings and nothing major. For all she knew they could be some strong gal pal feelings. She hadn't had a close gal pal for a long time. Not for several years. Everytime she moved she made new friends that forgot about her fairly soon. And even then, the friends were only interested in her connections. Her empty house remained empty. Her contacts list maxed out. Her inbox filled up with requests from numerous people, but her sent texts amounted to very little.

It was then that Lila realized how pitiful her social life was. This was something of a periodic thing she thought about it.

This was always followed by the thought that she had picked this life. She had been the one to join her parents on their endless travel. She had made that decision. And if this was the consequence, she had to deal with that.

Suddenly she thought about the inevitable future, where she would have to leave Paris and go to wherever next her parents needed.

Lila stopped that train of thought right there. This was not the time for that. She hadn't even showered yet. And it was, uh, Lila glanced at her phone and she realized she had about ten minutes until she had to be at Marinette's house.

It was here that Lila cursed herself and all of her descendants, and then proceeded to take the fastest shower known to mankind, outpacing even the most skilled shower-takers.

Marinette had to admit that she may have worried a bit over what to wear. Because she'd had this ridiculous thought that she wanted to impress Lila with her apparel. So it was a little disappointing that she was waiting outside the bakery with everyone except Lila, wearing one of her cuter outfits.

No, wait, this is totally for Adrien. Right. Marinette thought to herself. She was wearing a sleeveless white shirt tucked into a high-waisted dark blue skirt, and she wore her signature black flats and jacket. It wasn't a drastic change, but Marinette didn't wear skirts that often. She had also prepared by equipping shorts underneath, in case the spring wind decided to strike.

"You look cute! Adrien will love it!" Tikki had said earlier. Marinette had laughed nervously because she knew Tikki was slightly off the target. And it wasn't like Marinette could deny that she wanted a certain someone to love her outfit. She just didn't know how much she wanted that.

When Alya had been the first to arrive, she had made a similar comment.

"Or is it for someone else?" She'd inquired with a wink. Marinette had laughed it off, because she couldn't really trust her own conclusions at the moment, and she wasn't sure what Alya would think of her feelings towards Lila. It's been like three days. Marinette sighed inwardly. Well, four, if you count Volpina. Then again, it had only taken two days for her to fall hopelessly in love with Adrien. C'est la vie for the poor bisexual girl.

Suddenly Marinette's pocket vibrated, and she grabbed her phone.

Lila: im so sorry ugh i forgot to set my alarm :'(

Lila: omw

Lila: :( :( :(

Marinette smiled a little bit at the excessive emoticons. She was about to tell her friends why Lila was a bit late when suddenly the bakery door crashed open, effectively stunning everyone in the shop. Lila stood there, clearly out of breath and panting hard, and she braced herself against the doorframe.

"Here." She wheezed, and then she took a single deep breath, stood straight up, tossed her somehow-impeccable hair behind her, and walked forward as if she hadn't just ran several miles across Paris at an olympic speed (in heels, too). All four of them stared, impressed by her rapid switch from exhausted wreck to a stunning, model-esque girl. It was something of a callback to Lila's first day here. She had the same air as before and she held herself with pride.

Not only did she exude confidence, her outfit was somehow even more fashionable. She looked like she belonged on the runway. Marinette was a bit in awe at her beauty. It seemed illegal for someone to look so beautiful. She looked from Lila to gauge everyone else's reactions, and when her eyes passed over Adrien, she had the horrible image of the two fashionable and beautiful students together. It actually wasn't that horrible; it was just too much beauty for her mind. And it was also Lila with someone else.

It was funny how she had been worried about Lila stealing Adrien before and now it appeared to the be opposite.

No, wait, I'm not in love with Lila. Marinette reassured herself. I like her as a friend. Maybe. (cue laugh track)

"You took your sweet time." Alya commented, but without malice.

"Sorry about that." Lila answered, and swept a hand through her bangs. Then she flashed a quick smile at Marinette, and her heart probably just gave out right there. "We're all here!" Alya said cheerfully. "Let's go!"

As opposed to Marinette, Lila had a better hold on her feelings. Lila had made a flash decision (contradicting everything she said earlier, oh Lila) that she could throw caution to the wind, and would attempt to woo Marinette. There was only so much she could stop herself from doing. And she decided that she valued Marinette's love more than the possibility of her being Ladybug. So Lila would go as far as she could, and if she found out that Marinette was Ladybug, she would fall off the bridge when she got there. Although it would be more of a dive than it would be a fall.

Maybe Marinette's feelings for Adrien weren't that strong. And even if they were, Lila had decided she wouldn't go down without a fight. She wasn't one to give up what she wanted so easily (unless she was utterly humiliated in front of them).

So it was with that determination that she had slipped on the clothes she'd mercifully picked out the night before and made it to Marinette's only ten minutes late as opposed to thirty.

She had entered the bakery before remembering her plan to impress Marinette, and she had swapped her just-ran-a-marathon appearance to her about-to-have-a-photoshoot attitude. The look on Marinette's face had been exactly what she wanted. She was in awe and she looked at Lila in admiration (and everyone else, too had appeared impressed). Then Lila saw that Marinette, too, had, dressed up a little bit.

Lila thought that it was probably for Adrien, but she didn't let that bother her.

When all five of them had begun to walk, Lila made sure to walk next to Marinette. Alya was always on one of Marinette's sides, chattering away, and Lila stepped to the other side with ease. This was where she needed to continue putting her plan into action.

The thing is, acting had been easy when it was flirting for ulterior motives (the motive is always attention and appearance, let's be honest). But she had never flirted with someone she had actual feelings for. And Marinette was someone she could at least halfway-admit she had feelings for. Or, she could admit she at least did want to be closer with her.

So she was feeling extremely nervous about going any further with her plan, because the next stages involved saying flirty things and making physical contact. But every time she turned to look at Marinette and open her mouth she felt the words disappear from her throat. Because every time she looked over, Marinette was talking mostly to Alya and looking so dang cute that Lila just could not. It was a struggle.

In the end, Lila slowed her pace so that she then was in line with Nino and Adrien, who were walking behind the girls.

"Hey, Lila! So, how are you finding Paris?" Nino, said noticing her presence immediately. Adrien from the other side leaned forward a bit and waved.

"It's nice." Lila replied, wondering how much information about Marinette she could glean from a talk with these two students. "It's a really cool city." She continued. "Although I probably won't be here for much longer than a couple of months." Lila added.

"Really?" Marinette said, turning around and stopping. Lila prayed that is was dejection she heard in the voice, and she was surprised that she had even heard. The others stopped, too, and echoed their own comments of disappointment.

"What!" Nino exclaimed in disbelief.

"That's too bad." Alya frowned, laying a hand on Lila's shoulder.

People didn't want her to leave. Lila swallowed, suddenly feeling an ache in her heart. How often did she find people who actually liked her like this?

"It's life of a daughter of diplomats." She replied, laughing it off. Because getting pity was making her a bit uncomfortable.

"Still though." Adrien commented sympathetically.

"I guess we know what that means…" Alya cut in solemnly, using two fingers on the center of her glasses to push them back up the bridge of her nose like some ridiculous anime character. Then she looked up to the sky and extended her hand out to the heavens, two fingers pointing above. Then everyone else looked up, wondering whatever the heck she was looking at (there was nothing).

"We must make these months the best months of your life!" Alya announced as she looked directly at Lila. There was a brief moment of silence as Lila suddenly felt warmth in her chest.

"Definitely!" Nino agreed, after all of them stopped looking at the sky.

"We should." Adrien smiled.

No lie, Lila could feel the beginning of tears and she tried to blink them away, turning her head. She'd never felt so appreciated, or wanted, in her entire life.

"Let's do it!" Marinette said excitedly, and when Lila looked at her she literally felt her heart throb.

"Yes. We will show you a Paris you will never forget!" Alya continued, fire in her eyes.

"I…" Lila was at a loss for words, and she was dangerously close to letting loose twin waterfalls cascade down her cheeks. She hadn't realized how much she had missed being wanted. Where people were happy to simply hang around her, and not to get information on celebrities. Where people cared more about her than about her clothes or stories. "Thank you." She finally said, quietly as she attempted to discreetly dry her eyes. She hadn't cried in a long time, and certainly she hadn't ever done it out of joy before.

It wasn't exactly helping her look cool for Marinette, but she felt so happy she didn't mind. She could woo her later.

"Of course!" Alya gave a thumbs-up. The other three agreed, saying words of kindness.

"And to start it off, we don't want to be late for the movie." Nino said. "The first memory of an unforgettable Paris starts there."

"Yea, let's go." Alya and Nino gave friendly smiles, and then all of them resumed walking.

"There were lots of good reviews, so this should be pretty good, Lila." Adrien said, glancing behind at her and giving her a smile before replying to something Nino said. But Marinette stayed next to Lila, the two of them walking behind the other three as they talked about their expectations of the movie.

"Are you okay?" Marinette whispered and touched her arm. Lila turned to look down at the girl, tears mostly eliminated from existence. If she was going to cry, it wasn't going to be in public, and certainly not in front of Marinette.

"Yea." I'm just really glad to have met you. Lila thought to herself, but even that was too cheesy to say out loud. Marinette had shown Lila more amiability in three days than her parents had shown in years. Which was kind of sad, she realized. "All of you are so nice." Lila said, the spot on her arm feeling cold as Marinette's hand fell away.

"Um." Marinette said. "Were people never nice to you before?" She asked, and Lila nearly froze. Because that wasn't something she was willing to discuss outside of her thoughts.

Thankfully Lila didn't need to reply because then there was an explosion directly to the right of them, and large chunks of wall began to fly.