Chapter Text
He’s still determining when it all changed. It hadn’t been the same since the beginning of summer break. It’s not like he was purposefully seeking her out and asking where she was, but he noticed her presence slowly evading. At first, she was late to everything, but that was just like her; of course, she was late to everything, but then came a time when she didn’t show up at all.
But summer break was over now; he expected things to return to normal. To his disdain, they hadn’t.
They were in a new school year, and somehow, Adrien, Alya and Marinette ended up in the same class as him again. But, there seemed to be a distance between Alya and Marinette, and when he asked his girlfriend, she shrugged and claimed, ‘Marinette practically dumped me over the summer’. Nino watches as Marinette sits at the back of their new classroom, her books tucked under her arms, her head resting upon them.
It isn’t like her; it isn’t like Marinette at all. She’s always so happy and bright, willing to put a smile on everyone’s face. She walks into a room, and the atmosphere shifts, and when she exits, she leaves a trail of smiles behind her. That is Marinette. Not the gloom and doom she seems to be portraying, callously keeping to herself.
Then Lila enters the classroom, latching herself to Adrien’s arm and discussing her adventures in America. Nino notices the uneasy look on Adrien’s face as Lila grips harder onto him; his friend is clearly uncomfortable. He steps in between them and pulls Adrien away from the conversation.
“Thanks,” he sighs. Nino knows how uncomfortable Adrien gets with all these fangirls latching onto him, but he also knows that Adrien is too apprehensive to speak up for himself. Perhaps a reflection of Gabriel’s misguided parenting skills.
He shakes his head in a way that lets his friend know that it isn’t a problem. “Hey, do you think Marinette is okay?” He asks Adrien. The two both glance at the girl sitting up at the back.
But now she is sitting beside Nathaniel, and they seem to be talking about their designs and drawings, and he smiles to himself; Marinette will be okay. Alya and Marinette will work things out; they always do… He knows his girlfriend is stubborn, but Marinette is her best friend.
“She looks fine to me,” Adrien smiles, and Nino doesn’t miss the fondness it carries.
oOo
Nino is correct because Alya and Marinette are talking again by lunchtime, ending with a hug. He feels eased as they resolve their issues. Nino really had missed the four of them hanging out. Adrien was barely allowed out over the summer, and Marinette was never available at the right time. So he asks his friends if they want to go to the arcade after school.
He wasn’t counting on Lila coming, but Lila was okay; besides her slight obsessive behaviour over his best friend, he didn’t mind her too much. But he keeps an eye on her and makes sure Adrien is comfortable. Then, at one point, Marinette disappears to the bathroom, Lila goes to get snacks, and Marinette never returns. He asks Lila if she knows why Marinette left, but she doesn’t answer. Nino gets the same strange feeling in his stomach he got watching her latch onto Adrien earlier that morning. The facade of her sickly, sweet smile was beginning to crumble in his eyes.
oOo
The following day, Nino is walking to school when Lila approaches him. Their houses are near each other’s, so sometimes they walk together.
“Hey, Nino,” the girl greets.
“Sup Lila,” he nods in acknowledgement, pausing his music.
“Oh, I almost forgot to tell you! Over the summer break, I met the DJ Erick Morillo. I was talking to him, and he said-”
Nino’s eyebrows twisted together as his frown deepened. “Lila Erick Morillo died two years ago,” he interrupted.
“What? But-” He watches as her eyes flash with a look too familiar for comfort as if she’d been caught.
“Are you confusing him with someone else?” Nino asks. He feels as if a red flag is blaring right in front of his face, but he decides to give her the benefit of the doubt.
“Yeah, sorry, I was thinking of Sckrillix; he made a dirge for Erick. Sorry, that’s why I got mixed up,” she smiles, “anyways, I told him about you and let him listen to the tracks you sent me, and he said you have serious talent and that if you went to America, you could get an internship with him.”
For some reason, Nino isn’t excited. Maybe it’s the fact that Sckrillix definitely did not perform over the summer, or perhaps it is because he also definitely hasn’t made a dirge for Erick Morillo. Or possibly it is because Nino realises the girl before him is a liar. Marinette had warned him about Lila and her lies; she called her out, and what had he done? Completely ignored her and pushed her claims aside. He feels like an idiot now; he couldn’t wait to go and tell Alya and finally settle the dust in their friend group. He definitely owes Marinette the most extensive apology.
“Wow, that’s really cool, Lila, thanks,” he smiles and then nods as he listens to her stories about the DJ and her adventures in Washington.
Finally, when he gets to school, he feels he can breathe as the leech latches onto another poor mortal. He sees Alya talking to Alix and Juleka and marches to the group.
“Babe, you will not believe what I just discovered; we owe Marinette the biggest apology.”
The reporter, hands on her hips, furrows her eyebrows at her boyfriend. “We owe Marinette an apology? More like she owes us an apology!” Alya protests, stomping her foot.
“Huh- what?” Nino sputters, confused at his girlfriend’s antics.
“We asked her to make our dresses for the homecoming dance at the end of the term, but apparently, she’s ‘too busy’ to make dresses for her friends, and then she demanded that we pay her next time we want something,” Alya rolls her eyes.
“Literally, she’s flaked out on us so much these past few weeks; how could she possibly be ‘too busy’?” Alix sneers while Juleka mumbles something undetectable.
“Oh, it’s so sad; I don’t know what’s gotten into her,” Rose sighs as she enters the group, wrapping her arm around Juleka’s waist. “She used to be so sweet.”
“Are you guys talking about Marinette?” Lila asks timidly, joining the conversation beside Alix and Alya. The girl curls in on herself.
“Yeah, about how she won’t make our dresses!” Alya pipes up. “Honestly, I can’t believe her; she has ditched us so much. She didn’t tell us when she broke up with Luka, and now she’s pulling this!? She used to be so kind and make us things, and now she’s just never around, and can you believe that stunt she pulled with the dollhouse! Rose accidentally broke it, but she kicked us out and told us she didn’t want to be our friends.”
“What?” Lila gasps, “That’s so- so-“
“Bitchy? Pompous?” Alix offers up.
“Mhm,” Alya hums.
The girls all roll their eyes and huff. Nino doesn’t know what to think... if Marinette is too busy, shouldn’t she have her own reasons? Reasons the girls had yet to bother to ask the designer about.
Nino feels his chest tug. He’d never heard Alya gossip like this about her own best friend. Sure, there were rants when the two were fighting, but that was confidentially something you talked about with your boyfriend! Surely, Marinette doesn’t deserve this.
Marinette walks up the stairs and starts heading towards the group; she looks tired and worn out. Nino feels sympathy for her and wonders if she is okay. After all, Alya said she was going through a breakup with Luka. He should check up on her.
“Hi, girls,” she smiles. He winces when she grins (clearly very fakely) as she approaches the group.
“Hi,” Alya yawns; the rest of the girls are looking everywhere but at Marinette.
“Come on, let’s go to class,” Lila says, and everyone robotically follows. Marinette stands back and watches as they walk away.
“Hey ‘Nettie, are you okay?” Nino asks, placing a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes widen in alarm as if she isn’t expecting the question from him or the old nickname he gave her in école primaire.
“Yeah, I’m fine, Nino,” she says, her features calming down as her confused expression morphs into a soft smile.
“Cause if you weren’t, you can always talk to me,” he smiles warmly at her as he pats her shoulder.
“Thank you,” she peeps softly before disappearing into the locker room. Nino looks up to the top of the stairs, where he sees his girlfriend and Lila whispering.
oOo
Nino sits on the ground, leaning against Alya’s bed as he attempts his French homework. Truth be told, he isn’t good at literature; he prefers subjects like Engineering, Design and Tech, but French is a part of the curriculum, so it is a must. Nino is lucky he has Alya, who is terrific at French, to help.
Alya appears quieter than usual, so Nino looks up at where she is lying on her bed. She isn’t even doing her work, staring blankly at the wall. He smiles, thinking he can talk to her about Lila now that they are away from the girl (finally), but Alya seems… mad.
“Are you mad at me?” He finally asks, wincing as she shifts.
“You finally noticed,” she scoffs, “thought you were too busy paying attention to Marinette all day.”
His eyebrows crease, and at the same time, his frown deepens. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He asks.
“After I told you I was mad at her, you talked to her and paid extra attention to her all day. Don’t tell me you like her again!” Alya crosses her arms, and he can see tears forming in the corner of her eyes.
“Alya, it’s not like that; I was just trying to be a good friend; it just seems like she doesn’t really have anyone,” Nino explains, lifting his cap and running his fingers through his hair.
“You’re supposed to be my boyfriend, babe; you’re supposed to support me , not that conceited bitch.”
Nino scoffs, “Marinette is far from a conceited bitch.”
“Oh, so you’re defending her now?”
“Babe, look, Marinette was right; Lila is a liar, okay, and I realised it, and I think you’re all pushing her away because of the lies Lila’s been feeding you and-“
“Of course,” Alya interrupts, “of course you would say that! You’ve been hanging out with her, haven’t you? That’s why you’re saying all this all of a sudden. And for your information, I haven’t been pushing Marinette away; she’s been pushing herself away; she doesn’t want to hang out anymore; she never invites us over. It’s not my fault she suddenly thinks we’re not worth her time!”
“Alya, I don’t think it’s like that! What if she’s going through something-.”
“Why do you keep defending her!” Alya yells.
“I’ve known Marinette my whole life; I just don’t think-“
“You know what, Nino? I’m sick of you defending her; just leave,” she huffs with crossed arms. Nino’s lips part as he stares blankly at her. “Leave Nino!” She shouts. So he picks up his stuff and walks out of the room. He looks back, but Alya stares angrily at the wall, so he leaves.
oOo
When Nino wakes up the following day, he has a text from Alya.
Als 🧡 : Can we talk?
Maybe Alya has finally come to her senses, he hopes.
Nino 💚 : sure
Als 🧡 : Library before school
Nino replies with a thumbs-up and grabs his bag on his way out. He makes his way to the library with hope in his heart. He and Alya rarely fought; when they did, it was over dumb things. Now, he really hopes he can fix this.
When he arrives at the library, Alya is waiting outside already, her hair neatly pulled back with a headband; she is wearing black jeans, a plain black long-sleeve top tucked into a black belt, and a blue shirt over the top. He noticed she hadn’t been wearing orange lately, even though she was soul-set on it being her colour. Maybe a certain someone else had claimed it as theirs, he thinks. Regardless, she looks beautiful, and Nino smiles at her.
“Hey,” he greets.
“Hi,” Alya grins.
“I’m sorry-”
“I’m sorry-”
They chuckle, both shaking their heads, and Nino prods her to go on first. “I’m sorry about last night; I know you don’t feel that way about Marinette anymore.”
“It’s fine Als. I’m sorry I made you feel that way; I was only trying to be a friend.”
Alya half smiles, her gaze going to the ground, “right.” His eyebrows rise, and she perks back up. “Look, Nino, I don’t know why you think Lila is lying all of a sudden like Marinette says, but Lila is my friend, and I know she wouldn’t lie to me. Can you accept that?”
He bites his lip; his gut screams to say “no,” but his love for the girl before him wins. “Okay,” he admits defeat and nods his head.
“Thank you,” Alya smiles and draws Nino closer to plant a soft kiss on his lips.
He beams as she pulls away, “You’re such a dork,” she boops him on the nose and then takes his hand, leading him through the hallways until they get to the courtyard, making him feel like a lovesick high school boy from one of the anime’s he watches.
oOo
Insufferable. Lila is insufferable. He really shouldn’t have agreed to accept Lila being Alya’s friend. Nino should have explained then and there that Lila is a terrible influence and constantly lies. Lying to get people to like her, about extravagant tales, giving him and their friends false hope was one thing. However, the girl constantly sputters white lies too.
Every time she opens her mouth, a lie proceeds. Any conversation between the girls is always about Lila and her extraordinary actions. If, for one second, the conversation ventures into anything else, she immediately switches it back to herself. Alya ate up every word Lila uttered like the words of an angel sent to bless them all with her graces. Honestly, how did Alya not become bored of her? It was either that or gossip. A primary target for Lila’s gossip is Marinette; he is starting to wonder if Lila is obsessed with the girl. Marinette did this… Marinette did that… that’s why when Lila and Alya gossiped at lunchtime, Nino drowns out their conversation by blasting music through his headphones. When his song finishes, he hears glimpses of their discussion.
“Your necklace is so pretty, Alya! Where did you get it?” Lila asks. Nino waits patiently for the next song to start playing when something Alya says catches his attention.
“Oh, I got it from Titlee; I used the babysitting money,” she winks, bringing Lila to a giggle.
“Girl, you took my advice; good on you!” Lila whacks Alya on the shoulder playfully. The necklace is a gold chain with a blue diamond on the end. Alya doesn’t babysit; he knows because she always got Marinette to babysit her little sisters whenever they went out on a date.
“Right! I mean, she obviously doesn’t deserve the money,” Alya rolls her eyes.
Nino pauses his music, now fully engrossed by the conversation.
“Exactly; what ‘best friend’ makes their bestie pay them for babysitting? If she was a true friend, she would do it for free,” Lila cocks her head indignantly.
“I know,” Alya hums with agreement.
“I mean, what would she even use the money for, right?” Lila rolls her eyes.
“Probably some fashion project; oh wait, she doesn’t have any cause she refused to make our dresses!” She whines mockingly.
“Greedy bitch,” Lila sputters, and the girls laugh. “You obviously make better use of the money.”
“Clearly, next time she babysits, I’m planning on buying myself a new dress for the homecoming dance since she refuses to make me one unless I pay her.”
“Honestly, what is with that?” Lila tantalises. “Isn’t she supposed to be your best friend?”
“No, babe, you’re my best friend; Marinette hasn’t been my best friend in a while.”
Lila pouts, “Aw als, I’m sorry, but she’s missing out; you’re my best friend too.”
Nino puts down his headphones. Enough is enough. He walks away from the table as Alya calls out to him, but he doesn’t give two shits. He doesn’t know when she turned into such a toxic friend, but he isn’t about to let her go down this path. It is time to call in the big guns.
Nora.
oOo
Nino explains the situation to Nora over the phone; he hears her sigh and hum and mumble how she knew this Lila girl was a bad influence on her. He feels like his job is done, and he sighs contently as he hangs up. He is doing this. He loves Alya, he cares for her, and if she wasn’t going to listen to him, she might listen to her own sister. Hopefully, Nora will help her see the light, Alya will apologise to Marinette, and then things will return to how it was before.
oOo
Alya looks at her reflection in the mirror. Her outfit seems so dim and bleak. Lila assured her that she looked cute; orange was clearly not her colour with her skin tone, and she needed a change. So she took Lila’s advice and tried something new, which she liked.
She takes a mirror selfie and posts it on her Snapchat story, tagging Lila for the inspiration for her new look. She gets a knock on her door.
“Mum and Dad want to talk to you,” Nora tells her, her voice tiny and not the loud, overenthusiastic sister she knows, and her facial expressions tell Alya this is serious.
“Oh, okay,” Alya frowns and enters the living room, where both her parents are sitting on the couch awaiting her arrival.
“Sit down,” her father instructs, patting the spot by him. Alya nervously sits down beside her parents.
“Alya, we know that you’ve been pocketing the money that we told you to give to Marinette for babysitting,” Her mother is the first to say. Alya’s heart thuds in her chest because how the fuck did her parents find out?
“Wh-what?” She asks dumbly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!” She protests.
“Alya, please don’t play dumb; we’ve noticed that you’ve gotten a lot of things lately without using our money; we assumed they were gifts, but-.”
“They were gifts! I don’t know what you’re talking about!” She opposes again; her parents’ expressions never falter from concern and anger.
“Alya, please,” her father pled, “as angry and disappointed as we are, we’re also worried about you. Nino called Nora, expressing concern for how you have been treating your friends and who you’ve been hanging out with.”
“Nino did what?” She hisses.
“That’s enough, Alya,” her mother says sternly, “what you did was irresponsible and selfish. You’ll work with me in my kitchen until you can repay Marinette every dime you owe her, understood?”
“This is bullshit!” Alya fumes. Rage encapsulates her body, directed at the brat and her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend. In utter disgust, she throws up in her mouth, the bile itching at her throat like poison.
“Alya!” Her dad scolds; the reporter gets up and storms to her room, slamming the door, leaving her parents even more angry and full of concern.
Alya fumes around her room, pacing back and forth. She is fucking livid . What right does Nino have to go and tell her parents that she has been hanging out with the wrong people? That she has been using Marinette’s babysitting money? Who the fuck cares! Marinette has everything she needs and more; Alya deserves this money, not her.
She pulls out her phone and begins to furiously type to her boyfriend.
Als 🧡 : I can’t fucking believe you.
Als 🧡 : What did you not understand about Lila being my friend and not a liar!??
Als 🧡 : you had no right to fucking tell Nora shit. WTF NINO
Als 🧡 : Marinette fucking flakes, all the time, picks on Lila, and tries to exclude her all because Lila and Adrien are close. She’s a fucking mentally unstable stalker and bully, and all she’s good for is making our clothes and giving us free treats.
Als 🧡 : She doesn’t deserve my money for doing the bare minimum of babysitting my siblings. I work hard on my blog to make a successful career, and Marinette doesn’t do shit. I deserve that money.
Als 🧡 : lately, all you’ve cared about is her anyways, so fuck you, nino. Go be happy with that conceited bitch because no one else will love either of you.
Nino 💚 : Alya, please calm down. We can sort this out. Meet me in the park please, mi amor?
Als 🧡 : HAHAAH, if you really fucking think im going to forgive you for this, you’re delusional.
Als 🧡 : I never want to talk to you again.
Als 🧡 : we’re done.
Alya Cesaire blocked Nino Lahiffe.