Anger burned in Adrien's eyes as he studied himself in the bathroom mirror. He had spent literal hours hiding his bruise that morning. Hours that were now wasted because someone had to be vindictive. He didn't have time to fix it before the chauffeur, and his father, came for him. What the hell was he supposed to do? Groaning, he halfheartedly caked on some foundation. It was better than doing nothing, even if it looked freaking ridiculous. He tossed the makeup back in his bag, ignoring the protests of Plagg, and headed out of the bathroom-

-And nearly ran into Alya in the process. He jumped at the sight of her.

"Alya! Uh... what are you..."

The blogger smirked. From the way she was standing, it was clear she had been waiting for him. "I heard you needed some help."

Adrien frowned. "I do?"

She held up her phone for him to see. His brow furrowed as he read the text on the screen.

Luna: hey, grl. Don't ask but can u help pretty boy fix his makeup? Don't tell Mari.

Adrien deadpanned. He might've been relieved by the thief's apparent guilty conscience, but she'd sent quite possibly the nosiest person to help him. He glanced back up at the dark-skinned girl.

"What did she tell you?" He droned.

"About the makeup? Absolutely nothing."

The teen groaned, again. He began to rub his temples. He did not want to have this conversation with Marinette's best friend, nor did he have time for it.

"Look, Alya, I-"

"Ah!" The girl said, raising a hand to silence him. "Save it. Nino's with your dad as we speak. I'd say we got about three minutes tops."

"You severely overestimate my father's patience," Adrien said with a sigh.

"Then, we'd better get moving." She put a hand on his chest and pushed him back into the bathroom. The model's eyes grew wide.

"Alya, wait! This is the boys'-"

"We do not have time to care!"

Luna was doing her very best to control the twitch in her left eye. The silence was uncomfortable, and every time she or Sabrina tried to break it, the conversation just ended up dying. Chloé wasn't making it any better. Several times already, Luna had caught the heiress staring at her. Whenever she was caught doing it, though, Chloé would immediately act as if she hadn't just been staring holes in Luna's head. Yeah, that wasn't the least bit creepy.

They finally got to the park, and Luna had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. The so-called picnic was more like an outdoor restaurant. A large table was set up in the shade of one of the trees and covered with a checkered cloth. Several chairs were stacked beside it, as well as another longer table filled with food and lined with chefs. Apparently, Chloé had been expecting a lot more people to take her up on her offer. For a moment, Luna almost felt sorry for her. As they approached, a man dressed as a waiter drew three chairs and set them at the table. He helped Chloé and Sabrina into their seats and would've done the same for Luna if she'd allowed him to. Soon, they were each given a menu and a salad to start. He then hovered, silently waiting for their order. Luna looked over the menu with an awkward smile.

"Uh, got any soup?" she asked.

Chloé pulled a face. "Eww, why would they serve that?"

Luna gave her a look of "really, bitch?" causing Sabrina to pipe up. "Chloé isn't a fan of soup, so the chefs didn't prepare any."

"Shame. That totally was what I was craving." She tossed the menu towards the center of the table and began picking at her salad. Awkward silence rang out again until Sabrina broke it. She politely told the waiter what she wanted and even put a rather complicated order in for Chloé. The waiter then looked at Luna who just shrugged.

"Give me the fish," she said. He gave her a nod and walked away. Luna looked back at the other girls and found Chloé studying her nails in boredom. The twitch returned. After such a sad attempt at an invitation, one would've thought the blonde would actually make an attempt at conversation. But no, even after their plates were brought to them, the silence stretched on. Luna picked at her meal as she tried to think of something, anything, that would get rid of the tension. The scent of something warm and sweet caught her attention. She caught sight of a crepe stand, and her eyes lit up.

"Hey, why don't we get dessert?" she asked.

Chloé rested her chin on her hand. "Sure. Daddy's chefs can make us some crème brûlée."

Luna stood, placing a hand on her hip. "I was thinking something a bit more common, honey buns. There's a crepe stand just over there. I'll buy."

The heiress glared at the nickname but seemed to think better of commenting on it. She set her fork down. "I don't touch the food of commoners. Too fattening."

"One crepe isn't gonna kill you, princess." Luna grabbed Chloé by the arm and dragged her out of her seat, ignoring her cries of protest. Sabrina was soon on her feet and following the pair as they made their way to the stand. When they finally came to a stop, Chloé tore her arm from Luna's grasp in a huff. The actress rolled her eyes before giving the stand owner a warm smile. He returned it with fervor.

"Bonjour, ladies," he said, cheerily. "What can I get you, today?"

"Three strawberry crepes, please," Luna asked.

"Coming right up." He turned to his hot plate and set to work.

"I told you, I don't want it," Chloé said.

Luna folded her arms, glaring down the blonde. "Hey, you treated me to lunch, so I'm returning the favor. You can at least be a little grateful about it."

"I didn't ask you to-"

"Look, Chloé, I get it," she said, cutting the heiress off. "You're trying to be nice, for whatever reason, but you're failing miserably at it. If you want people to like you, you need to stop being so stuck up. One crepe is not going to kill you." The stand owner handed her the treats, and she thanked him with a smile before turning back to the blonde. "Neither will saying thank you."

She offered Chloé the treat. The heiress looked at it with scrutiny. Nevertheless, she took it in tentative hands. Luna gave one to Sabrina who thanked her with a smile. They dug in, and Luna watched Chloé take a small bite, waiting patiently. The blonde swallowed, then flicked her ice-blue eyes up at her.

"Well, I guess it's not terrible. For commoner food, anyway."

Luna felt the twitch come back. "That's not exactly a 'thank you'. But, I'll take it." They continued to eat in silence, Sabrina the only one to notice the faint smile that graced her best friend's lips.

Adrien felt drained. He'd managed to get through lunch with his father with relative ease even though he'd been high-strung the whole time. It helped that work consumed most of Gabriel's attention. The teen wasn't quite sure if that was a blessing or not. Either way, he wasn't too surprised. He slogged his way to class, not really paying attention to his surroundings. It was by pure luck that he even noticed Nino in the distance. He almost went over to him, knowing full well his best friend knew how to brighten his spirits. He then caught a glimpse of red hair and stopped. Of course he'd be talking to Alya, right now. Adrien just knew if he let her get her sights on him, she'd grill him like no tomorrow.

'Don't you dare hurt her,' he remembered her saying. That was the only thing she'd said about the stupid bet. As if he'd ever think about hurting Marinette. They may not have been close, but he liked her well enough. He didn't want to screw up the already rocky friendship he had with her. He rubbed his neck with a sigh. What a mess.

"Hey, pretty boy!"

Adrien had to suppress a groan. A gentle slap came down on his shoulder, and he was soon met with Luna's grinning face. Honestly, he didn't mean to glare at her. He tried telling himself that he wasn't angry; that it wasn't her fault he was currently frustrated to the point of exhaustion. But, damn her, she just had that effect on him. Luna's bright smile dimmed, making Adrien mentally kick himself. And now, he felt guilty. Yay.

"Everything alright?" she asked.

"Yep, just peachy." God, that sounded bitter. He rubbed his eyes as Luna pursed her lips.

"You sure? You look a little-"

"I'm fine, Luna," he said, trying his best not to snap.

She rubbed at he arm. "Your dad didn't go off on you, did he?"

"Why would he have?" he said with a shrug. "It's not like he paid more attention to me than his phone."

"Oh... That's pretty sucky."

"Yep."

Luna looked at her feet, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. "...I'm sorry."

Adrien sighed. "Don't be. It's fine."

"It doesn't sound fine," she said, softly.

He really didn't know what to say to that. She was right, of course, but what was he supposed to say? He didn't want to yell at her; he never wanted to be that person. He just... needed some time to cool his head. When he didn't answer, though, she sighed.

"Let's just call the stupid bet off."

"Luna..." The boy sighed.

"You didn't want to do it, anyway, and it's clearly more stress than it's worth." She shrugged, making him all the more frustrated.

"I don't... Luna, it's fine-"

Her dark blue eyes turned sharp. "Y'know, the more you say that, the less I believe you."

Adrien gritted his teeth. There was that wall, again. Her face fell into a well-practiced, emotionless mask, one he was beginning to realize was all too familiar to him. He often saw it in the mirror. How often did he close himself off? Just completely shut down his emotions and act as if nothing was wrong? Hell, he was doing it to her right now. Maybe that was why he hated seeing it on her. Why he wanted so badly to make her smile, again.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. Luna adjusted her bag strap. "Guess we should head to class."

Adrien caught her arm as she tried to walk away. Their eyes met, both of them unsure. A breath passed between them. Then two. Finally, he found the words to say.

"Did the picnic really suck that bad?"

He caught the twitch in her brow and instantly saw her mask crack. She glowered at him. "It was awkward as hell, but that's beside the point."

"Is it, though?" He asked with a smirk. "'Cause it sounds to me like you're just looking for an excuse to back out."

His grin widened as Luna bristled. "Oh, don't even!"

"What's wrong, Luna? Afraid you might actually lose?"

"I am so gonna enjoy watching you rock that dress, pretty boy," she said, her gaze narrowing on him.

Adrien snickered. "In your dreams."

Her eyes danced from the challenge. The girl licked her lips as her vindictive nature took hold, again. "I sure hope a certain kitten's not as tired as I think he is. Something tells me he's gonna end up running around quite a bit, tonight." She turned on her heels and ran for the classroom. Adrien's heart skipped with excitement. He had a feeling he'd be sporting a few more bruises in the morning, and somehow, the thought didn't bother him one bit.