Hello! This is just a quick shoutout to my ever-reliable writing partner Comix and Co for helping me iron out the creases of this ever-growing tale. Keep your friends close and the people who help you research closer.

~BH

The Fox Condemns the Trap

The next few days were uneventful, at least in Adrien and Marinette's eyes. They saw each other most evenings and Adrien got to know and love Sabine and Tom, and Sabine especially was determined to stuff the boy with pastries. Although he was by no means malnourished, he was definitely too skinny for her liking, and she didn't understand how Marinette stayed so toned and slim either. When they weren't making up for lost time, they were playing video games together and Marinette measured Adrien for his suit. Adrien had told his father that Marinette was designing something, and after a long debate involving Gabriel questioning if she was going to be an interference and him countering with her many achievements in the fashion and design industry at just 16, he finally complied.

Marinette had decided on something basic, yet comfortable. She was planning on sewing in plenty of pockets (to Nino and Adrien's request) and then she would pair the blazer with some fitted trousers. She still thought about how she ran her hands around Adrien's waist and his chest, the tension between them while she did so was almost unbearable. Marinette couldn't help but notice how toned he was, but the fact that he was Chat Noir in addition to his fencing explained everything. She refused to tell either of them what colours they were wearing, because she wanted to keep hers and Alya's dresses a surprise. Alya's dress was, in her opinion, the best work she had ever created, and Alya deserved to have that magical reveal when Nino saw her in it. Her best friend was sure to have an input, but Marinette knew Alya trusted her and would never make something for her that didn't suit her.

It was in school almost a week later that things started to change.

More and more people were starting to suspect something between Marinette and Adrien, and the rumours were slowly spreading like autumn leaves. Their slow reveal to the world was moving at a perfect pace, and the more distance that there was between them revealing their identities and the official reveal, the better. As each day passed Marinette felt more calm about the situation, and although Adrien was much more desperate to just "sweep her off her feet already", he was more patient than he let on.

Despite these rumours, there was still a lot more interest in Adrien than Marinette was willing to admit. Chloe didn't feel the need to stop texting him, and although she understood that they had been friends since childhood, friends didn't insinuate that they should be the perfect couple on a regular basis.

She could tolerate Chloe, especially now Adrien was more firmly by her side. She knew most of her teasing at Adrien was to wind her up as her crush was painstakingly obvious, but she also knew that she wished he would see the future the Queen Bee of the class had envisioned.

On the other hand, Marinette was very concerned about Lila. Although she didn't believe the once Volpina had her secret boyfriend's phone number, she made sure to make her presence known around him. Adrien was still completely oblivious to the attention, and even though he had Nino to pull him back into reality, he wasn't always there.

Today was a day when he wasn't there. Alya and Nino had rushed off for another lunch date, and both the secret heroes of Paris couldn't help but notice that their best friends' relationship seemed to have kicked it up a notch lately, but in a different way to theirs. Marinette was sure she could find out later, but that also led to a pang of guilt since she was hiding a big secret of her own, and that wasn't even including the fact that she was Ladybug.

Lila wasted no time in sliding into the bench where Nino usually sat before Adrien could leave.

"I see Nino is out for lunch, do you want to come to the library with me, like we used to? I reeeeeally need help with that science homework." She looked at him as if she wasn't going to take no for an answer, and although Adrien could easily confront someone who was being mean or rude, he genuinely believed she needed help. He glanced at Marinette, who looked unimpressed.

"Uh… sure, if you do need help. But only if Marinette can come too, Alya has gone out with Nino." Adrien looked at her with a grin, as if it was a compromise for them not spending lunch together. Besides, he thought, doesn't she want me to distance myself a little bit so it's not too suspicious?

Marinette was annoyed. She knew he was unaware, but that didn't make it hurt less. Especially when Lila was leaning across the desk towards him and Adrien wasn't doing much to slide away across the bench. She used all of her willpower of both Ladybug and Marinette to simply smile and lead the way, as she reminded herself of the recent events which resulted in a very rocky relationship between the flirty new girl and the class sweetheart.

Lila followed Marinette's retreating form with a smirk. She had heard the rumours about the two of them and even though she doubted Marinette's feelings were reciprocated, it wouldn't help to do some investigating of her own. She knew too many accidental touches would look very suspicious, but it wouldn't hurt to accidentally brush against his arm or laugh a little harder at his jokes.

Marinette felt hurt. Was Adrien going to be like this if they were ever official? It hurt because he obviously had a heart of gold but at the moment it seemed to be made of gold flakes when she thought it was solid. She pushed open the door to the library, found a table and pulled out her school tablet with a little more force than necessary, determined to prove that she was independent.

Adrien patiently helped Lila answer the questions, making sure to explain everything as clearly as possible. Lila evidently knew more than she was letting on, but fully embraced Adrien leaning close to her. They weren't nose to nose, but it was definitely a distance that was comfortable with. She could work with that. She watched Marinette out of the corner of her eye and noticed that she had started drawing, her homework abandoned. What a third wheel, she sighed to herself.

The designer had decided to channel her aggression into art instead of merely glowering at the happy couple. Many of her classmates had walked past and the whispers drifted to her alert form, confirming that they were indeed speculating over what looked like a very interesting love triangle. Although Volpina was no news, the new rumours regarding their two classmates couldn't help but make things very interesting to them.

When Lila couldn't physically ask him any more questions, he shuffled his chair closer to Marinette, noticing that she was drawing.

She had decided to make it a positive drawing that completely countered her mood. A blissful profile of Ladybug had been drawn, her perfectly shaded blue eyes staring deeply into the eyes of none other than Chat Noir. She had lazily drawn the Eiffel Tower in the background, and stars littered the sky above them. The background itself was indecipherable between midnight blue or indigo, and although Adrien knew nobody could create a new colour, she basically had. She had no end of talent, and he knew the hidden meaning even if it could merely be considered as fan art, especially since everyone knew she had "limited edition Ladybug Miraculous earrings" from a "Comic Con". Everyone seemed to brush over the fact that she started wearing the earrings the day Ladybug and Chat Noir first arrived in Paris.

"Your talent is endless." Adrien whispered without even thinking. Marinette smiled shyly, deciding to put her anger aside and focus on the fact that he'd gone out of his way to make her feel good. "It's beautiful, Ladybug looks beautiful."

"Thanks, Adrien."

"No problem Marinette."

Lila had her suspicions, but it was Adrien's slip-up that solidified it for her.

Adrien and Marinette were secretly dating, and were both head over heels in love.

She felt like she was on the outside looking in, even though she was still physically closer to Adrien than Marinette. You couldn't ignore the way they looked at each other now, and it was so cheesy it could no longer be considered cute. It made her feel disgusting. It made her feel angry. It made her feel like she could never be satisfied.

She left the library and they didn't even notice, and if she thought that was the final straw seeing a Ladybug poster just outside the school did nothing to quench her fiery anger.

It wasn't long before Lila became the first person to ever be the victim to an Akuma twice.