Chapter Text
Marinette Dupain-Cheng was known rather widely not only for her connections, but for being so humble about them. She had rejected an offer to New York, the offer coming from Audrey Bourgeois, and does not boast about how often she designs for celebrities Clara Nightingale and Jagged Stone. Everyone knows how modest the young designer is, and it only encourages them further to ask her for things, to which she happily obliges.
Her classmates, on the other hand, fail to see this humility, and see her as a jealous being. They lash out at her and demand several things, as if she owes them. They don't care about how often their class representative used to bend over backwards for them and expect nothing in return, they only care about this supposed jealousy the bluenette holds towards Lila.
Lila Rossi. The entire situation with her has grown to be a bigger problem than originally anticipated, and no one knew it would grow this huge until it was too late. Adrien's 'high road' advice was only given at the time because Lila's lies seemed to be small and harmless, and he had no clue about the threatening at all. Marinette doesn't blame him for this, but she can't say she wasn't hurt. Of course, he never seemed to bring it up again to her, so she was okay.
Adrien stayed by Marinette's side as much as he could. He'd purposefully walk to the back of the class, and pass by Marinette to give her notes with words of reassurance, or simply asking if she was okay. He couldn't do much because of his father and Lila's teamwork, and Marinette understood this.
It amazes Marinette just how far her supposed jealousy for Adrien goes, because now she's apparently stealing Lila's designs, and of course, this warrants ruining Marinette's sketchbook. She saw this and got angry fast.
"Marinette, I'm incredibly disappointed in you." Alya says, and those words bring a chill to Marinette's spine and her blood runs cold. She loved and adored her best friend, and would follow her to the ends of the earth. Or at least, a few years ago she would have said so. It hurt a lot when she got thrown out for the next shiny thing.
"Not only do you continuously bully Lila, but now you steal her designs? Girl, what happened to you?" She asks, rhetoric. "You're supposed to set an example, like a good class representative." Her deputy says, and now Marinette sees the visible line that's cracked in their friendship.
"Oh, so I'm supposed to set an example and be perfect?" She asks, cold and deadpan to Alya's shock. She didn't know the bluenette had it in her.
"Yes?" Alya says. "You're the class rep, you're supposed to be a decent person at least. Your grades have been dropping, you've been even more late than usual, and you've been falling asleep in class a lot. You've also started asking people to pay for you to make things for them, when you didn't before. Really, girl?" She says indignantly and Marinette can't help but scoff.
"Alya, can you not?" Adrien steps in, to the bluenette's surprise.
"Adrien? What? Has she sunken her claws into you?" She asks, a fiery flame blazing in her eyes.
"Au contraire, actually. It seems like someone else has sunk their claws into you, Alya. I really thought you were a good person, you know? But it turns out this reporter here hasn't checked her facts." Adrien says.
"Seriously? Marinette, this is a new low. I know you like the guy, but you can't go here manipulating your crush." She whisper-yells, just loud enough for Adrien to hear, but quiet enough to seem like it was 'unintentional'. Marinette's fury only grows stronger.
"Wh-what..?" Adrien says, starstruck as Marinette shakes her head and turns to say something to Alya. She doesn't get to, because someone else walked in to interrupt.
"Césaire, as a reporter, I'm sure you don't know how to keep your mouth shut, but I'm sure you should at least know how to keep a secret?" Chloé Bourgeois says, and Marinette's shock from Adrien interrupting only grows from Chloé interrupting.
"Oh, now you have another bully on your side?" Alya says with some form of offense on her face. Marinette scoffs.
"Like Adrien said," All three other people there get a visible look of surprise at Chloé referring to Adrien by his actual name. "you should start checking your facts, Césaire." She snarls.
"You should check your facts." She says, offended. "If you took one good look at Lila, you'd see all the bruises coming from Marinette's bullying. Anyway, giving attention to bad people is useless, and my mother always said not to argue with stupid people, so I'm out."
She exits the room, and Marinette stands there before her sketchbook, numbness filling her to the brim while Adrien and Chloé look at her, both with concerned expressions on their faces. She sighs as she gets up and checks what pages are still intact. The remnants of the sketchbook are composed of watery torn pages and messed up sketches interrupted by messy pen lines. Not only did they pour water on and tear this sketchbook, they also drew all over the designs to make sure they could never be put back together.
Chloé's eyes widen at the ruined sketchbook, and Adrien's brows furrow and his frown grows deeper. Marinette sighs again.
Chloé then shakes her head and starts speaking, choosing an important topic.
"Look, I know we don't have the best history, but I want to own up to what I did and apologize." She starts, and Marinette shows a small smile on her face. "This is not an excuse at all, but my parents are not.. the best people. They were my role models and examples, and the amount of attention they gave me never really felt right. I was given a lot of power at a young age because my dad wanted me to always be happy and get what I want to account for the lack of care my mother gave me. I'm working on healing my relationship with my mother now, and thanks to therapy, I'm realizing just how much of a bitch I was to everyone I knew." She laughs, and Marinette and Adrien chuckles.
"So I want to say: I'm sorry for everything I did, and I don't expect forgiveness because I know my actions were hurtful. What I do want to know though, is if we could have a new start?" She looks hopefully in Marinette's direction, extending a hand, and the bluenette shakes it. "I accept your apology, and you can work your way towards forgiveness by being my friend." The girl brightens and Marinette smiles.
"I also wanted to apologize to you, Adrien." She says, and Adrien looks visibly surprised. "I've always been.. excessively clingy, and while I do have an explanation for that, I do know that it's inexcusable because it clearly made you uncomfortable." Adrien nods.
"Like I said, my parents aren't the best. The lack of attention and everything confused me, and my idea of love was really really messed up thanks to it. I knew that my mom and dad didn't work out for a reason, and since they didn't seem to pay attention to each others' needs, I thought that being overly clingy and 'affectionate' would fix all that. So, my role model for romance was basically to be the extreme opposite of what my parents were. Another thing was.." She inhales deeply, and sharply, because this is a sensitive topic. "When Emilie disappeared, I noticed that you pushed people out, and that you were all on your own. I didn't know what to do to avoid being pushed out, so I threw myself at you and decided to cling on. I'm sorry for doing that without asking and for doing it so.. extremely." She smiles sheepishly. Marinette could tell the topic of Emilie caused Adrien to tense a little, but his telltale genuine smile shone through nonetheless.
"I forgive you Chlo. I know a lot's happened, and you've made quite a few mistakes, but deep down, I'm aware you're a good person."
"Thank you guys. I don't deserve you."
The moment the school day ended, Marinette decided to walk home. Adrien and Chloé had both offered to walk with her, but she refused because she wanted some alone time. They understood, and waved goodbye to her with a smile.
She was now alone, and finally seeing an opening, Tikki flits up to check on her chosen and nuzzle her cheek affectionately. Marinette smiles at this before leaning into the touch and patting her kwami lovingly. "Thanks Tikki." She says, and Tikki gifts her with a sad smile.
"I'm going to shower for a bit to think. I'd also like it if you left me to myself, if you don't mind?" She says and Tikki nods before flying off somewhere.
Marinette spends sometime considering what to do, and what would be considered being 'weak' or giving up. Eventually, she decided on moving schools and working on further improving her fashion career. In the end, she decides on taking her ex-best friend's advice and becoming a perfect role model in the time she has left. She's going to plant herself into everyone's hearts, and she's going to make them suffer when the inevitable time that they realize the truth comes. In the mean time when she's away, she's going to keep pushing the truth in everyone's faces without a care about reputation anymore. She's lost all her friends (besides Adrien and Chloé, apparently), so what will she have to lose? Lila also can't break what's already broken.
"If they want me to be perfect, then so be it." She says coldly with a strong resolve.
"Marinette, are you sure you don't want to move schools right now?" Sabine says after hearing the entire story. Tom nods aggressively along with her and Marinette laughs. "No Maman, I need to carry out this whole plan. Lila needs to think that I've disappeared as a threat and took the easy route, when in truth, I'm looking for a way to harm her without getting harmed myself." She says, and Sabine laughs. "Oh, look at the menace we raised Tom." She says with a lovingly teasing tone that contradicts the words she said.
"The arts school is going to be very far away. Are you sure you won't want us to stay with you at that new place you mentioned? Also, are you sure you'll be able to have enough funds then? Can we help you in any way? Are you sure you'll be alright, macaron?" Tom says, a barrage of questions pouring out through his mouth.
"He's right, honey. You're 17, and we know you're very capable, but.." Sabine hesitates, but Marinette speaks up. "I understand your doubt, but please trust me. I want to be able to understand living on my own. It's also really far away from the bakery."
"Which is exactly why we're concerned. We won't be able to reach you."
"Chloé will be able to help me, it's okay." She says, sheepish.
"I still don't trust her, after all those years of.." Tom trails off, and Sabine nods. "Well, I get that. You weren't there today when you saw the determination to change in her eyes, and honestly, I myself am in a bit of disbelief. Regardless, Chloé's place is a hotel, meaning if odds don't meet, I can stay there. I promise you with all the commissions I have, I'll be able to cover for food and other costs for the first month, and in that month, I'll be able to cover everything else."
Sabine nods, but she's frowning. "We'll miss you dearly. Make sure to call a lot, okay?"
"You act like I'm already gone, Maman." She smiles. "I promise to give you plenty of updates, and even visit the bakery often. I really like the place the apartment's located at, it has a nice view, and I even scoped it out." As Ladybug.
"Oh, wow! When did you ever find the time? Anyway, me and your father need to get back to the bakery now. Thank you for sharing this with us, and we promise to do our best to be here for you more often. That snake will get what she deserves. We trust you, Marinette." Sabine says, and Marinette beams.
It's only when she finishes talking to her parents and she walks back to her room that she allows herself to cry. She brought out a new sketchbook and started designing earlier, redoing her designs for Clara Nightingale and Jagged Stone, but she can't help but say that she would have some free time if her original sketchbook wasn't torn. She's pretty sure the new redone sketches have some missing details too, but she can't for the life of her remember what they were.
She's crying, and Tikki's hovering nearby to ensure that no akumas approach. It's only at the sight of Tikki that she remembers she has patrol with Chat Noir in a few hours. The thought of her partner makes her smile a bit. Someone who's still on her side, and always will be.
Her mind temporarily blinks back to Chat Blanc at the irony of that musing and she pushes out more tears at the thought of him. No, he's still her partner. Akumatized or not. It wasn't his fault, nor was it hers.
Whatever. Feelings are overrated, and Marinette needs to start plotting. Tikki looks over worryingly at Marinette, but she shrugs and starts sketching as she muses on what exactly to do with the whole Lila situation. As if hearing her thoughts, her phone dings a tone that Marinette never thought she'd be excited to hear.
Chloé Bourgeois: hey, are you okay?
Marinette Dupain-Cheng: Actually, yes. I was just thinking of you.
Chloé Bourgeois: dupain-cheng, don't tell me you've developed feelings for me just bc i apologized?
Marinette Dupain-Cheng: Pfft, no. I was wondering if you could do a favor for me. Also, you can call me 'Marinette', like a normal human.
Chloé Bourgeois: :eye_roll: okay marinette, what is it?
marinette: Do you know how to set up a website?
chlo: uhhh
chlo: vaguely? i think i know enough to understand the logistics or something
chlo: marinette, there's no way you're setting up a website, r u?
marinette: I'm considering it.
chlo: oh there's no way we're doing this over text. i'm coming over, and i'm dragging along the fencer girl
marinette: ? Kagami????
chlo: yea
"Why is Chloé with Kagami of all people..?" Marinette mutters, and Tikki shrugs.
"Marinette, someone's here for you!" Sabine says. That was quick..
"Hello, Marinette." Kagami greets politely, and Chloé scoffs. "Why were you two together?" Marinette questions, and Chloé looks at her indignantly.
"Am I not allowed to have friends, Marinette?" Chloé asks and Marinette takes a step back. "Okay, geez, I was just a little shocked at the unlikely pairing."
"Well, she found out that I was bisexual. We bonded together." She cuts the sentence off there, unsure if she should out her friend.
"I'm a lesbian, for reference." Chloé says and Marinette nods. "I'm bisexual too, Kagami." She smiles sweetly at the fencer and she smiles back, although a little smaller and more subtle.
"Anyway, Mar, let's see what you've got." Rolling her eyes at the new nickname, Marinette tapped on the screen to show the website-in-progress, and Chloé scoffs and does one of those Chloé Bourgeois hairflips. "This isn't working, let's change sites."
They work together on the website, with Kagami stepping out every now and then to make tea for fun. (And bond with Sabine, apparently.) Tom had come in with pastries at one point, to the girls' delight.
"So, what's your penname going to be, Mme. Anonymous Designer?" Chloé teases.
"I think it'll be.. MDC." She types the letters in, and Kagami smiles and Chloé grins.
There was something different tonight about Ladybug that he couldn't quite put his finger (or paw!) on. He hasn't even approached her yet, because he likes looking at her from afar. Not in a creepy way, but in the way that you just admire paintings. He likes the way the moonlight hits her, and it frames her like a painting. Today though, she seems to blend in with it, seemingly succumbing to the darkness. He doesn't know if he really likes it, or if he's scared of it. He shrugs it off.
"Bonsoir, ma lady." He smirks, landing behind her, and she turns around with an amused smile on her face. She seems normal, but he doesn't really understand what's off.
"Hey chaton. Do you have anything to say, or should we start patrol?"
Unsure that his suspicions were anywhere near accurate, he simply shakes his head and they go off their separate ways. They patrol like this on weeks where akumas haven't attacked as often as usual. Meaning that they actually patrol, splitting up and carefully looking at everything going on. They're still close enough that they can call out to each other and see one another, but not close enough for chit-chat or conversation. Irresponsibly, the black cat looks over to his partner.
What is different? He asks himself, because she seems fine and seems normal. It's like she's hit finality, or made some decision that only strengthened her resolve, but she didn't know what. Internally, he can hear Plagg yelling at him to get his head back in the game, you stupid idiot, or something like that.
He sighs, and continues patrolling.
Once they had hit their meeting point, the Eiffel Tower, without a problem in sight, they both sat down on one of the beams together.
"So, what's up?" Chat prompts, and Ladybug responds. "Nothing much, the usual civilian stuff that's boring to talk about."
Interesting. So she's either hiding something, or it's something related to superhero biz.
"What about you?" She asks. "Same here. Though I will say, I think I might like someone in my civilian life.." He trails off, slightly afraid at his lady's reaction. He looks up to see stars in her eyes, shimmering and twinkling. "Really?"
"Well, it's weird. I have these huge gigantic feelings for you, but I also like her. And I don't know, I don't want to date her while still feeling for.. you? If that makes sense?" He says, hesitant, and she nods understandingly. "You're allowed to like multiple people. But I get it, you want to give her your whole heart. My advice is to talk to her about it, and see what she thinks. Communication is key in any relationship, platonic or not." She smiles sincerely at him, and lord, he wants to treasure that smile more than anything else in the world.
"Thank you for the lovely advice my lady, I think I'll follow it." He winks dramatically and she shakes her head fondly. "But you're okay with it, right? I mean, I know you don't like me, but for some reason, I can't help but feel like I should ask you..?"
"It's absolutely okay, chaton." She beams at him, and he can't help but feel his heart burn at that smile. Being with Ladybug has always made him feel this rush of adrenaline, a burning blazing flame bursting inside of him. But spending time with Marinette always feels like staying by a comforting, warm fireplace that pulls you in magnetically. It feels like soft sunrays hitting you perfectly in the middle of the day, capturing your essence and showing you perfectly through a lens.
They spend the rest of the night rambling and ranting about certain things, calling each other funny nicknames and talking about odd experiences.