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Chapter Text

Marinette had dreamed of dating Adrien Agreste since that rainy day when he'd offered her his umbrella. She’d fantasized of finally being able to tell him her feelings of him reciprocating of their happy dating life leading to a perfect fairy tale wedding where they’d adopt a hamster and live happily ever after. She truly deeply believed that Adrien was her prince charming that with him by her side things would be simpler, happier. But she’d been wrong.

Marinette wondered many times when exactly her perfect dream turned into a nightmare. Was it when Chloe made it clear that dating or not she’d always be ‘Adrikens’ number one priority and proceeded to increase her bullying of Marinette just to make sure to get her point across? Was it when Lila started spreading the malicious lie that Marinette was being ‘clingy’ and that her insistence on private dates alone was only further isolating Adrien from his friends, causing the guys in class to lecture her? Or maybe… Maybe it was when Adrien found out about her feelings and asked her out in the first place?

Marinette had always hoped for a romantic confession followed by a sweet shy request for a date. She didn’t need something big or complicated but she really wanted it to be private and sweet. But that's not what happened, instead Adrien found out about her feelings during a class screaming match. Lila had purposefully waited for a day when Marinette was half asleep after an all night akuma attack she was hardly awake when the italian saddled on over to her with an ‘important thing to discuss about her schedule in the upcoming weeks’ Marinette had fallen asleep while Lila prattled on which had seemingly been the plan as when Marinette jolted awake a few seconds later Lila was pulling out the pity party claiming that Marinette was purposefully ignoring her and obviously the class had gotten involved with everyone trying to both comfort Lila and defend Marinette which only made Lila wail louder eventually seeing she wasn’t getting her way the liar had pulled out the big guns.

“Marinette I know you don’t like me because you love Adrien but I swear me and him are just co-workers! Your jealousy is no reason to ignore me!” 

Lila’s outburst had made the class gasp and Adrien, who had just walked through the door, dropped his bag. It was planned obviously but Marinette was still frozen in shock. She really thought Lila would have more honor than to use her crush against her like this but then again this was the girl who claimed that a ball of paper could take out an eye; she probably didn’t have any honor or shame. Marinette remembers the horrible feeling that welled up in her as Adrien stared at her wide eyed before asking to see her in the hallway privately. Alya had practically had to drag her over and close the door because Marinette was still too shocked.

She’d expected rejection. Instead Adrien asked her out, and the horrible dread and horror seemed to melt away into shock and warmth. Sure this wasn’t how Marinette wanted things to go but she figured at the time that it was fine that it had all worked out that Lila’s plan whatever it was had backfired. Marinette had practically floated back into the classroom after stuttering out a nervous confirmation that she’d love to go to Andre’s after school. Alya and the girl squad had cheered the boys crowded around Adrien to excitedly chatter and Lila had been forced to swallow down her sneer and instead plaster a fake smile and give an apology for ‘accidentally’ outing Marinette’s feelings.

“But it looks like it all worked out in the end, just remember to talk about me in your speech when you get married.” 

Marinette really should have known it wasn’t over when Lila had bit out those words with barely concealed venom. But she’d been too happy to care because she had a DATE with Adrien. It really felt like FINALLY things were turning around and going her way. She was dating Adrien Agreste, the sweetest nicest boy in Paris and she wasn’t going to let anything ruin it! So even when things started to go wrong, even when she started to feel her heart break and sag with every new awful development she smiled and reminded herself that this was what she wanted.

Even when Chloe started bullying her relentlessly, constantly insulting her and demeaning her, Marinette stayed positive because Chloe was Adrien’s best friend and he asked her to give Chloe time to accept it. She ignored the barbs, the spilt coffee on her head, the getting locked in supply closets because Adrien was her boyfriend and she knew that eventually he’d tell Chloe off when she finally went too far. 

Even when Adrien constantly canceled dates due to last minute photoshoots she smiled understandingly he was busy she knew that when she’d fallen in love with him so she smiled and told him it was okay they’d just reschedule. And reschedule again, and again, and again… But it was okay! Really Adrien would get her flowers, sure it was no replacement for precious time spent together but it showed he cared! So it was okay really!

Even when Gabriel told Adrien he was forbidden to publicly announce he was dating her, Marinette shrugged it off making no big deal out of it. After all Gabriel was just protecting them both right? Surely it would look bad for a wannabe fashion designer to date Adrien so she understood really! Yes she saw Gabriel glaring at her when she’d stop by to drop off gifts or have study dates with Adrien but Marinette wanted to believe that Gabriel wasn’t the sort of man who would judge a girl based solely on her family's money. 

Even when Lila convinced the class that Marinette was being clingy, that her desire for one on one solo private dates was greedy and filling up Adrien’s busy schedule giving him less and less time with the class and friends Marinette just forced a smile and compromised again and again because it was okay really Adrien probably DID want to spend more time with the class altogether she was fine with that even when it meant they would not have a private date for months.

And even when Adrien and Lila became swept up in a massive rumor that they were dating. They’d just been doing so many photoshoots together and really they looked so good side by side and it was just a rumor Adrien even denied it during several interviews so really it was fine and Marinette forced herself to keep quiet and swallow down her own complaints. 

It wasn’t Adrien’s fault it was never Adrien’s fault he was just so kind and sensitive he just saw the best in people he just loved his friends so deeply he just could not fight his dad. So Marinette smiled, she smiled and swallowed down her feelings. Because this was what she wanted and wasn’t it great? She was dating Adrien Agreste! She was supposed to be happy, supposed to be living her dream! 

Besides… Marinette knew what would happen if she complained. She’d done it only a few times but the reaction was never good. The first had been when Chloe had gone too far by destroying her sketchbook, Marinette had snapped at the blonde but apparently Adrien disagreed, the look of disappointment and the lecture he gave her was enough to ensure Marinette bit her tongue and quietly endured the blonde's cruel treatment from then on. The second time she’d complained was when Adrien kept canceling their plans or turning them into group hang outs, Lila had somehow made sure the class heard a twisted version of the story leading to Marinette enduring many well intentioned but hurtful lectures from her friends all of which were about how Adrien needed time with friends and that Marinette demanding all his free time was unhealthy. The third time she complained Adrien hadn’t even listened to her, the words simply sliding in one ear and out the other as the blonde boy fussed with his phone.

So Marinette told herself to smile, told herself it was okay, she made sure she was the perfect girlfriend who never demanded or expected anything and looked after every one of Adrien’s needs. She believed so deeply that it was worth it that it WOULD BE worth it. That Adrien would defend her and their relationship that he’d fight for her if ever it was REALLY needed. That Lila and Chloe would give up and that her perfect life with her perfect boyfriend would come true!

Maybe that was why it hurt so bad to hear that Adrien was planning to break up with her in order to publicly date Lila.

She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop really; she had no idea Lila had even pulled Adrien away to ‘talk’. Marinette had been too busy looking for Rose’s lucky pink piggy bracelet charm like the rest of the class. It had fallen off at some point and the sensitive girl was very distressed to the point of near tears causing Bustier to permit the class to fan out and look for the small charm. The search quickly expanded outside the classroom as Bustier talked Rose through some breathing exercises unwilling to risk yet another akumatization coming from her classroom. 

Marinette had followed her ladybug intuition and decided to check the locker room. She was down on the floor hidden behind a row of lockers when she spotted the pink piggy charm in question. She snatched it up with a victorious grin when the locker room door had slammed open and then slammed closed. Marinette had frozen at the sound, staying easily hidden on the other side of the lockers. That was when Lila’s voice filled the room.

“When are you going to do IT Adrien?! Your father told you to do it last weekend. You've had plenty of time so WHAT are you waiting for?!”

Marinette sucked in a breath and cautiously moved to sit up. Lila never sounded so venomous with Adrien what had he done to make the italian so angry?

“I-I know I need to do it but I just.” He sighed and she could practically picture his kicked puppy eyes. “I just don't want to hurt her.”

Her? Who was her? Marinette felt ice creep into her heart as she swallowed nervously.

“Oh Adrien~” Lila was practically purring as she spoke now. “You're really SO sweet! But this is Marinette we're talking about your ‘everyday ladybug’ you don’t really think she’d get upset with you do you?”

“B-but-“

“Just tell her it's your dad’s decision, surely she would NEVER hate you for listening to your dad?”

Marinette bit her lip until she broke the skin, her body filling with a noxious combination of anxiety and anger. She could hear the casual way Lila was manipulating the situation AGAIN using Adrien’s kindness against him but what worried her more was her name being spoken. She had a horrible dreadful feeling she knew what was coming but just once she hoped her intuition was wrong.

“… Today at lunch. I'll break up with her today at lunch.”

Marinette felt her heart shatter.

“Perfect~ Then we can announce our relationship this Friday! Oh Adrien, your father will be so happy.”

She curled up and buried her head in her knees hoping to drown out the conversation.

“And you really think Marinette won't be mad?”

“Oh Adrien~” Marinette could hear the artificial sweetener dripping off Lila’s tongue as she spoke. “Marinette could NEVER be upset with you. Now come on let's go help Rose find her panda-“

“Pig”

“Pig! Charm!”

Marinette stayed curled up on the floor even after Adrien and Lila had left the room, her broken heart aching. She didn’t even realize she was crying until she felt Tikki’s little paws gently petting her forehead. Looking up at the little god Tikki quickly moved to wipe Marinette’s tears all while soothingly cooing to her chosen. She wasn’t telling Marinette to calm down or trying to convince her that it would somehow all work out she was just soothing her as best she could being there for her and as the small red kwami smooshed herself against Marinette’s cheek her version of a hug Marinette felt her breath even out until she was calm or as calm as she could be.

“Oh Tikki… What am I going to do?”

The red kwami let go of Marinette’s cheek and backed up a frown decorating her face.

“Well… What do you WANT to do, Marinette?”

Marinette wanted to immediately answer that she wanted to convince Adrien not to break up with her. She wanted to beg the boy not to give up! to fight for their relationship! That they could figure it out together! But she knew it was hopeless. Adrien wasn’t going to fight for her; she knew that now. He had let Chloe step all over her, told Marinette to let it happen even, he had refused to even think about arguing with his dad about making their relationship public and while he had denied any relationship with Lila publicly before it was clear that was all about to change. 

The bitter truth Marinette had to face was that maybe… Maybe Adrien had never loved her, not really, not truly, not like she had loved him. 

So what did she want?

“I don’t want Lila to use my breakup with Adrien to make me the bad guy.”

Tikki tilted her head looking at Marinette with confusion clear in her eyes. Marinette sat up a little, wiping the tears from her eyes as she took a breath.

“I know Lila. There’s no way she won't find a way to get the class to eavesdrop on our break up. If I had to guess… She’s probably hoping I’ll freak out, maybe even get akumatized all so she can turn the situation around and make me look like the bad guy… Again.” 

Marinette let out a defeated huff as the small kwami hummed in thought.

“Lila is a very good manipulator… But now you know Adrien is planning on breaking up with you! So you can just accept the break up with grace and dignity that way she cant lie about you!”

Marinette snorted.

“Like that’ll work. If I take the breakup too calmly Lila will just flip it around on me anyway she’ll probably say that it's proof I never loved him and was just after his money or something.”

Tikki frowned harder.

“Your class would never believe that Marinette.”

“But the rest of the school might and then they might pressure my classmates into believing it.” Marinette shook her head sadly. “My classmates are the kindest people I know Tikki, that's why they always believe Lila. It's also why they are so weak to peer pressure.”

The kwami looked utterly distraught at Marinette’s words settling on her chosens knee as she rubbed her small paws together anxiously.

“Oh Marinette, I wish I had better advice to give you! I’m not always so good with this sorta stuff. I bet if Plagg were here he’d have advice even if it were just ‘break up with him first’ then he’d eat cheese but at least that's something!”

At Tikki’s words Marinette froze. A flicker, an idea. Lila always had the upper hand but that was because Marinette always let her make the first move and have the first say. But what if she moved first? Stopped reacting and started acting? Lila was predictable; she had certain techniques she used to always twist things in her favor and Marinette knew them now. 

Shooting up to her feet, Marinette felt a fire light in her heart. Scooping up the confused kwami into her hand, Marinette planted a kiss on Tikki’s head.

“I know what I’m going to do!”

It still hurt, her heart ached but Marinette refused to let Lila use that pain to her advantage. No this time Marinette was going to have the first say. 

Taking a quick detour to the girls bathroom she splashed her face with cold water and made sure it didn’t look like she was crying. Then she headed back to class with a smile plastered on and gave Rose her piggy charm. The class cheered and finally settled down to get back to their lesson. But while Bustier prattled on about literary devices Marinette plotted her strategy.

Classes flew by and before Marinette knew it the lunch bell was ringing. As Marinette gathered her belongings into her bag she did her best to calm her nerves. She knew what was coming and she was as ready as she’d ever be. Soon enough Adrien approached her with his best model smile and her heart squeezed painfully.

“Hey Marinette. Do you think we could talk real quick? It's important.”

The rest of the class ‘ooed’ at Adrien’s request a few snickering at the ‘lovebirds’ Marinette smiled back brightly ignoring the gleam in Lila’s eye.

“Of course Adrien! Anything for you.”

She did her best to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

Soon enough the class filed out of the room and the door closed but Marinette knew better than to assume they had any privacy. She knew Lila too well; she'd come up with some lie, some reason why the class should stay and eavesdrop the fact Marinette could see the top of Kim’s head through the small door window was all the confirmation she needed.

“I’m glad you asked to talk, Adrien I actually had something really important to tell you as well.”

She watched as the model's face grew pale and he squirmed under her smile. If she had to guess he probably thought she had some kind of gift or surprise for him like she usually does and well it was a sort of surprise but not the kind he would be expecting.

“O-oh well I… I think I should tell you my news first, Marinette… T-The truth is that I… I-I think maybe we should, I m-mean maybe it would be best if we… I-Its nothing personally really it's just-”

Before he could continue Marinette gently took his fidgeting hands in hers, a perfectly content smile gracing her features as she shoved down every bit of hurt she felt promising herself that she’d binge out on cookie dough ice cream and have a good cry later once she was home.

“Adrien.” She made sure to project her voice wanting every word she said to be heard by their ‘audience’ outside. “I think we should break up.”

“WHAT?!” Marinette ignored the loud thud of the door as the class reacted to her words, luckily Adrien’s loud screech was enough to drown out the noise ensuring the blonde didn’t notice. “W-Why? Did… Did I do something wrong? I don’t understand??!”

Marinette ignored the anger that rose up in her, he was planning on breaking up with her but now that SHE was breaking up with HIM he had the nerve to be upset? She made sure to keep her face calm and content determined to follow her plan.

“No no Adrien you did nothing wrong!” A lie, he had done everything wrong and somehow she was only realizing that now. “Adrien you know I love you, we're friends, and all I want is for you to be happy, that's why I noticed… That you don’t love me.”

Adrien looked like he’d been slapped, his eyes wide and his mouth open.

“W-What? N-No! No I do love you Marinette really I-”

“Adrien it's okay, I’m not angry or upset, you don’t need to lie to me I already figured it out. You don’t love me because you love Lila.” 

The silence that followed was so thick you could hear a pin drop but Marinette only smiled more and continued making sure the audience outside heard every word.

“You and Lila were both so kind, you both denied your feelings publicly and Lila did her best to make sure I never felt threatened but I still noticed. You two, your soulmates, destined, and while it hurt me at first and I acted out trying to get more time with you to myself I realized that this just wasn’t working. You're both my friends, and I want you both to be happy so I won't hold you back anymore.”

Adrien sputtered his face slowly going from chalk white to red. Finally he managed a very strained and strangled “S-Soulmates?!”

“Yes, at least I think so. I mean think about it, I was never happy with the big group dates and hang outs and that was always causing problems, but not Lila she’s fine with that sort of thing. She saw how badly you wanted to spend time with everyone and called me out for being ‘selfish’.”

Adrien gaped like a fish, his mouth opening in closing as he stared at her like she’d grown a second head but Marinette carried on without a second thought.

“Then there’s your father. Let's be honest Adrien he never approved of me and honestly I get why I can’t handle the media or your fans but Lila can, she doesn’t get jealous like I do and she’s so endlessly patient not to mention with how often Gabriel has her in photoshoots with you it's obvious he approves of her. Then there’s how comfortable the two of you are around each other I mean you never held hands with me in public but you and Lila would be so tactile with each other, and then there’s how Lila is always thinking of you and how you in turn are always thinking of her putting her first.”

If she sounded bitter she made sure to bury it in enough sweetness that it would be well hidden. And if Adrien noticed? Well from the way he was still imitating a fish she had no way to know and she refused to let herself care. Taking a deep breath, Marinette geared herself up for the grand finale.

“It's okay Adrien. We can go back to being friends and I will support you and Lila one hundred percent!”

Before he could try and say anything more, Marinette's phone went off. Her mother was phoning to remind Marinette to hurry home just like the baker's daughter had asked her to do earlier in a text.

“Oh shoot I forgot I was supposed to be helping my parents at the bakery I better run! You can tell me whatever it was you needed to later Adrien bye.”

Marinette made sure she took enough time grabbing her bag that the class would have time to run away from the door and hide around the corner. She made a show of running out of the room and down the stairs to the bakery just down the street, a victorious smirk on her lips and fire in her eyes. Her heart still ached and burned but she would survive.

By the time lunch was over and Marinette returned to school with a box of pastries for the class Lila and Adrien were ‘officially together’ Marinette bit down her tears and hurt and instead faked a huge smile and happy congratulations even slipping in a few teasing remarks to the new couple. All the lies she’d had to say today made her feel disgusting but she refused to let Lila take her honesty and her vulnerability and twist them into a weapon. 

Luckily while the class was happy to congratulate Lila and Adrien they had not forgotten about Marinette and for the rest of the day Marinette was treated to hugs and loving words of support and praise. Juleka was the one who summed it up best.

“Just because you broke up with him and are happy for him doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt you.”

It warmed Marinette’s heart and for the remainder of the week Marinette was happy to let her friends help treat her broken heart. Alya came over to eat ice cream, the girls planned a sleepover, and they made sure to keep Marinette away from the new couple. It was lovely but Marinette knew it wouldn’t last. Because there was no way Lila would let it. 

Luckily Marinette had a feeling she knew what Lila was planning next and she already knew how to combat it. On Friday Lila and Adrien officially announced their relationship status to the rest of Paris and on Monday just like Marinette predicted Lila made her next move.

Marinette arrived to class early and just in time to catch Lila in the middle of spinning her web. The Italian was sat at her seat wailing with her zebra stripe phone clutched in her hand. Marinette swallowed down her annoyance and anger and rushed into the class and over to Lila where the other girls were already hovering.

“Lila! Oh my goodness what happened? What's wrong?!” 

The italian’s eyes snapped open her tears and wails immediately dying as she looked at Marinette in shock and confusion. No doubt the liar had plans to weave an entire sob story tale to rile up her very kind sweet and naive classmates into a frenzy. Marinette coming in early and rushing over to console and ask her what was wrong was immediately throwing her off her game. But Lila was a pro and she quickly recovered from the shock.

“H-How could you even ASK me that Marinette after what YOU did this weekend! I really thought you meant it when you said you were happy for us!” 

“What ‘I’ did this weekend? What are you talking about Lila?”

Marinette didn’t have to fake the confusion in her tone, while it was true that she had a pretty good idea what Lila’s ‘brilliant’ plan was she still didn’t know the specifics after all the liar might try to accuse her of something new and outrageous maybe of robbing a bank or riding off on an elephant after using it to crush Lila’s new handbag honestly nothing would surprise her at this point.

“Y-You! You sent me those horrible messages this weekend after me and Adrien officially announced our relationship.”

Marinette had to fight to keep from rolling her eyes. That was about what she’d expected.

“Lila oh my goodness I can't believe something so horrible happened to you! But I swear it wasn’t me!” 

Without missing a single beat the liar turned her phone around displaying the ‘horrible messages’ on her phone screen. The class gasped and Marinette did with them, her eyes quickly scanning over to read the messages. They were horribly written with many MANY spelling mistakes… Did Lila think she was illiterate or something? Who typed like this? 

“Lila.” Marinette could not stop the slight condescension slipping into her voice. “I swear it wasn’t me, here I’ll prove it.” She pulled out her pink phone and unlocked it, handing it off to Alya and Max who had come over to help. “I have nothing to hide.”

Lila gaped at Marinette before her eyes narrowed.

“T-That doesn’t prove anything! You could have just deleted the messages!”

“Even if she did, I'd be able to easily restore those messages. However, based on a quick look it appears as though Marinette is correct that those messages did not come from her phone. But if you need further proof I can always compare the phone numbers honestly that would be the easiest way to prove things”

Lila flushed red with embarrassment at Max’s word and quickly retracted her phone clutching it to her chest. It was clear she hadn’t expected to need evidence.

“T-Then she must have another phone! I know these messages came from Marinette!” The class shared an unimpressed and unconvinced look that caused Lila to gasp before she quickly recovered, sniffling she pinched herself to cause tears to well up in her eyes. “Y-You guys don't believe me? Y-You think I’m a liar.”

Alya frowned and shared a quick glance with the rest of the girl squad.

“Girl were not calling you a liar but… It's possible you assumed that these messages were from Marinette but clearly you assumed wrong. It's still super messed up that you're getting hate like this though.” 

Marinette accepted her phone back from Max and pocketed it watching with hidden joy as Lila sputtered and tried to find another way to twist the situation into her favor. 

“Listen Lila I get this must be super upsetting and distressing but blaming Marinette like that isn’t cool.” 

Alix casually moved to stand in front of Marinette causing the class president to blink in shock. Sure she’d figured that her classmates were still on her side after the way they treated her post break up but to see them actively defending her? It felt… It felt like a weight being taken off her heart, they really believed in her.

“I-I’m not-”

“I get it Lila, I do but didn’t you and Adrien just announce your relationship this friday? I bet it was one of his fans that sent those messages to you.”

Lila seemed to realize she was out of chances to twist this in her favor and for a brief second her eyes darkened before she quickly rearranged her face to one of distress. 

“Oh no! I didn’t even think about that! I was just so happy to finally admit my love for Adrien that I completely forgot about the fact some of his fans might not like me.” 

As Lila began to wail and the class quickly took pity on her doing their best to soothe her, Marinette moved to slip away upstairs to her seat only to be stopped by Alya grabbing her hand.

“Lila. I think you owe Marinette an apology.”

Marinette wasn’t sure who was more shocked by Alya’s declaration, the liar or herself. Either way the journalist was on a mission, her face hardening into the same look she’d give the twins when they were being particularly bratty.

“This isn’t the first time you have accused Marinette of doing something entirely outside of her character and almost ruining her reputation in the process and right after she broke up with Adrien so the two of you could be together. I understand you might be upset right now but Marinette’s feelings matter too!”

Marinette felt her eyes go hot as she fought back tears. She looked around the classroom and noticed the rest of the class shooting Lila disappointed looks.

“B-but I never meant to hurt Marinette, surely she knows that!”

The class shared a look at Lila’s words before they all seemingly came to a consensus with a small nod leaving Lila and Marinette feeling entirely left out.

“Lila” Rose began her voice soft and sweet as if she were speaking to a small child or easily frightened animal. “We know you can’t help but lie about Marinette but that doesn’t make it okay.”

Marinette felt her own mouth fall open her eyes wide. Okay now she was REALLY confused, what had started as her simply defending herself from one of Lila’s idiot attacks was quickly becoming something she was not prepared for. Luckily Juleka seemed happy to fill in the blanks.

“Madam Bustier told us all about your lying disease before you and Marinette rejoined the class. She asked us to keep it a secret that we knew because you’d asked her to but she was worried it would cause problems and lead to potential akumas. Apparently the school board will investigate if we have any more akumitizations.”

At this point Max chimed in. “I will say when Bustier first informed the class I believed the disease was fake but Markov helpfully reminded me that I also thought magic was fake yet clearly we have magical heroes and villains roaming our city so I was forced to admit that I lack knowledge to truly conclude one way or the other. That being said, are you sure it’s a disease and not perhaps a curse?”

Lila blinked owlishly at the class as if she was only now realizing what was going on. Marinette meanwhile was struggling not to hug her classmates and cry. All this time they had believed her, believed IN her but she’d been so focused on Lila and Adrien she hadn’t noticed that they were still in her corner.

Nino huffed and stepped forward. “Anyway the point is we’ve been doing our best to ignore your obvious lies and make you feel welcomed dudette. I mean I always ignore when you mess up directors and actors names, Rose double checks with Ali about your claims all the time but never calls you out on it, Alya quietly privated all her interviews and videos with you so that only us in the class could see them because someone with a disease like yours can’t be used as a journalists source.” 

At that Lila let out a screech but before she could burst into tears and throw herself a pity party Nino raised his hand to silence her and continued to speak. 

“We know you don't lie about everything dudette but we can’t take risks that might ruin our careers. We were doing all of this not to hurt you BUT we can't keep ignoring it when it's hurting Marinette.” 

“We understand your situation and we don’t blame you” added Mylene evenly “but even when we don't mean to do something we still have to take responsibility for our actions and their consequences.”

Lila was looking around somewhat desperately now as if she was hoping to find another lie that would somehow fix the whole situation. Some way she could spin this that would force the class to magically forget about her ‘disease’ and anything that would mean she didn’t have to apologize to Marinette. Finally the liars' eyes landed on Adrien; he had only recently arrived to class but judging by the look on his face he’d heard enough.

“Adrien-“

He cut her off before she could say a word more.

“You should apologize to Marinette Lila… You almost ruined the class harmony.” 

Marinette ignored the spike of anger that rose up in her. Now that they weren’t dating he was finally standing up for her? Really? What kind of bad joke was that?! Looking away from the blonde Marinette was grateful for the gentle squeeze of her shoulder by Alix who shot her a knowing and understanding smile.

Lila meanwhile was a ball of barely concealed fury as she swallowed down her pride and gripped her phone until her knuckles went white. 

“Marinette.” She was trying but the strain in her voice was obvious. “I… apologize. You happen to look a little like a childhood bully I had back in italy. I suppose seeing your face causes my disease to act up. I REALLY didn’t mean to hurt you. You understand right?”

Marinette thought for a moment before a small smile appeared on her face.

“No worries Lila I understand. Just try not to lie about me again okay?”

As the class breathed a sigh of relief only Marinette saw the way Lila’s eye twitched. She knew it wasn’t over but she also now knew how to fight back.

Making her way up to her seat Marinette was pleasantly surprised to find Alya joining her and Nino sitting in front of them leaving the new happy couple alone together at the front of the class as Bustier walked in Marinette ignored the last look Adrien shot her way before he was forced to take his seat and class begun. 

Marinette was no longer Adrien’s perfect little girlfriend and that was fine by her. She had her real friends by her side and she was not going to sit quietly by and smile while her heart got crushed and a liar used her feelings against her. No Marinette would survive this better yet she’d thrive and Adrien could watch her pass him by at Lila’s side because that's what he’d chosen.

Chapter Text

Chloe made her grand return 3 weeks after Lila and Adrien’s big dating announcement. The bossy blonde had been away in New York with her mother and it was only in retrospect that Marinette briefly wondered if the entire timing of her and Adriens break up and Lila and Adriens announcement had been planned. After all Chloe had not taken well to Marinette dating Adrien and the class president was positive she would not take the news that Lila had swooped in right after their big breakup any better.

As it turns out Marinette had been right at least about Chloe not taking the news well. She’d walked into class early (for her) only to be met with chaos as Chloe and Lila stood opposed and yelling filled the classroom. Despite the fact that Marinette KNEW Chloe would hate whoever dated Adrien the sight was still enough to leave her mildly stunned after all Lila and Chloe had been tag team harassing Marinette since the second she and Adrien had started dating so to see the once allies now locked in a vicious match each using their unique brand of awful against each other… Well it was something. 

Luckily Marinette knew she would not have to lift a finger to fix things. Because this? This was Adrien’s problem. And Marinette had no intention of helping or playing mediator. After all Adrien had let Lila and Chloe stomp all over their relationship when they’d still been dating, heck he’d even asked Marinette to simply deal with it so now he could deal with it and Marinette severely doubted that Lila would be even half as accepting or accommodating as she had been. 

So while the two wannabe queens duked it out Lila with fake tears and Chloe with vicious mockery Marinette simply glided past the drama and up to her seat where she pulled out her sketchbook and started adding the finishing touches to a sketch of a brand new rock and roll suit for Uncle Jagged. Now that she wasn’t chasing after Adrien 24/7 and making him gifts and worrying about him or Lila or Chloe not to mention trying to keep up with her school work and grades all while also being Ladybug well Marinette had time on her hands and she’d been using it to study, track down Hawkmoth with Alya’s help, spend time with friends but most of all she’d been using that time on her career. 

As she wrote in what materials she would need to get a certain sheen effect on the outfit, Marinette noticed the green eyes looking up at her desperately from the front of the class. Marinette glanced up noting how Adrien seemed to be trying to plead with her to help as he tried to reign in his dramatic new girlfriend and attack dog childhood friend; she only cocked her head to the side, smiled and offered him a little wave before continuing with her work. Yeah no way was she willingly throwing herself into THAT.

Sure enough before class could start Adrien managed to drag Lila out of the room and into the hallway no doubt to give her the same speech he had given Marinette when THEY were dating Lila bursting back into the classroom a few minutes later looking like she’d just swallowed a whole lemon only confirmed Marinette’s suspicions. 

What Marinette had not expected was Lila openly complaining about ADRIEN at lunch, hours after the incidents of that morning. Marinette ate her steamed bun as she watched with mild surprise as the Italian wailed and threw a veritable tantrum as she told the girls all about how Adrien had put Chloe first and had asked Lila to simply deal with it. It was so painfully ironic that Marinette struggled not to roll her eyes. Honestly after the breakup Marinette had for a brief time contemplated revenge because truthfully. She was hurt and mad but Tikki had talked her out of it claiming that karma would have its way Marinette hadn’t believed the little god at the time too lost in her grief and her ice cream but now? Well now Marinette was starting to understand what Tikki meant. Because Lila wanted to be Adrien Agreste’s girlfriend no matter what it took, and she was only now starting to see what that really meant.

Sure enough in the weeks that followed Lila and Chloe kept each other busy allowing Marinette to for the first time in years relax at school. Of course Lila tried to redirect Chloe’s hatred back at Marinette by telling the blonde about how it had been Marinette who initiated the break up. But Marinette had easily overcome Chloe’s rage with honesty after all she had only broken up with Adrien because she knew they were incompatible and that Adrien would be happier with someone else, something Chloe agreed with though the way in which the blonde agreed made Marinette’s eye twitch just a little.

And then of course there was Adrien who was still trying to get Marinette to step in and help him handle his childhood friend and girlfriend but Marinette had been able to dodge him for weeks until they were having a class meetup at the park. Chloe was not attending due to wanting to avoid the ‘peasants’ as she so called them and Lila claimed she would be late due to an important meeting with some famous person. Honestly Marinette had not even bothered to pay attention. Adrien had noted the lack of ‘problem people’ and had decided to make a bold move calling Marinette out as they all hung out together to ‘talk to her in private’ yeah like THAT was going to happen. 

Marinette knew Adrien’s modus operandi very well. He’d call you out, ask to talk to you privately and then lay on the guilt trip. No way was she doing that anymore she’d endured enough of them while they were dating to last a lifetime.

“Actually I would prefer not to talk to you alone, Adrien. You're publicly dating someone and we never know when your fans or the paparazzi might be around. Besides anything you can say to me in private you can say in front of OUR friends.” 

Adrien looked like a kicked puppy at her words. But as their classmates quickly took her side and insisted he tell Marinette whatever he needed with them around the blonde was backed into a corner.

“Well the thing is… I was wondering if you could help? With the whole Lila, Chloe situation?”

Marinette wasn’t even given a chance to respond. The second the words left Adrien’s mouth the entire class bristled, many giving Adrien looks of confusion and shock as if he’d just spoken pure nonsense and honestly in a way he had. Nathaniel however was the one who said it best.

“Wait I’m sorry are you seriously asking Marinette to mediate between her long time bully and the girl you started dating not even an hour after your break up with her? Are you serious?!” 

“W-Well I just thought-”

“Thought what Agreste? That Marinette should put herself in the worlds worst situation completely ignoring her own feelings just to make your life easier?” 

Oof Kim going straight for the throat.

“B-But shes the class president!”

“So?! That doesn’t make her a genie! She can't just clap her hands and fix everything nor should she have to!”

Marinette had never heard Rose sound so upset in her life, which is when the young fashion designer knew it was her turn to say her piece and get things back under control.

“Adrien.” She ignored the hopeful look he shot her. “Not only do I not want to get involved but I don’t think it would help. Chloe doesn’t like me and Lila’s ‘disease’-” she said the word with barely concealed sarcasm “acts up when I’m around. So I’m sorry but no I will not help you with this.”

“But I’m sure if you just-”

The look the class shot him was enough to end the conversation and Marinette let out a relieved sigh as her heart filled with warmth she really loved her friends.

A month after the conversation in the park Lila Rossi got her second harsh wake up call to the ‘true joys’ of being Adrien Agreste’s girlfriend and it was a two for one deal. 

Lila had seemingly been under the assumption that once she was dating Adrien her own popularity would rise to meet his but she was starting to learn that wasn’t the case. Adrien still got plenty more photo-shoots then she did and most were still solo and since they were fast approaching the spring fashion season Adrien was plenty busy with more and more shoots while Lila was left waiting for her turn in the spotlight.

Perhaps it was the frustration at not immediately sky rocketing her way up in fame or maybe it was the snide comments from Adrien Fangirls talking about the lack of couples shoots but Lila seemingly came up with the brilliant plan to force the spotlight onto herself by demanding, manipulating and forcing Adrien to take her on big flashy fancy dates where the paparazzi always conveniently found them Marinette had no doubt Lila was the one tipping them off but she kept her mouth shut. It wasn’t her problem.

However while Lila was enjoying her tabloid paparazzi fueled fame the class and more surprisingly Gabriel Agreste himself were beginning to notice the way it was wearing Adrien down. Between his photo-shoots and busy schedule all of Adrien’s precious free time was being filled up by Lila and her many needy antics and it was starting to show in the way Adrien carried himself and how exhausted he seemed.

Nino was the one who led the charge just as he had when Lila manipulated the class into thinking her ‘clingy’ but where Marinette had gotten some hurtful but well meaning lectures about her Adrien obsession which in retrospect DID help her realize her love was unhealthy. Lila was not given such a kind well meaning speech instead Nino got mad, something he rarely let himself become.

As it turns out Lila had worn Adrien down to the point where the blonde was too exhausted to function and he’d nearly passed out while standing and talking to Nino and that mixed with the fact that it had previously been Lila who painted the faux picture of Marinette as the clingy evil girlfriend isolating the boy from his friends was enough for Nino to harshly call her out. The liar did do her best to wriggle out of the situation trying to claim she only wanted ‘some’ private time with her oh so busy boyfriend but Nino was not having it and the class was too happy to back him up.

The more Lila tried to defend and excuse her actions the angrier Nino got and much to the liars annoyance the young musician had proof and plenty of it. Between his text correspondence with Adrien that revealed the model was constantly being forced to cancel relaxing friend days to take Lila out on flashy dates that always ended with paparazzi and fans swarming the location and forcing Adrien into high stress situations, and an extremely detailed schedule planner that Nino had made to keep track of his best buds work life balance (potential evidence to blackmail Gabriel Agreste if he ever threatened to pull Adrien out of school again apparently). The facts didn’t lie and they were showing that Lila was the real ‘clingy’ girlfriend.

Things eventually got so heated between Nino and Lila arguing that an akuma appeared to try and take advantage of the situation. Luckily for everyone Ladybug had been patrolling and stopped the naughty little butterfly from making things worse. In the end Lila was forced to grit her teeth and apologize to her darling boyfriend. Though perhaps what upset her more was the way the class proceeded to apologize to Marinette after the fact for ever accusing her of being clingy and taking up too much of Adrien’s free time.

However Lila still thought she had one last ace up her sleeve, and so after the class luncheon ended the liar proceeded to contact Gabriel hoping to get her new boyfriends dad to reign him in and do her bidding. Unluckily for Lila however Gabriel had been paying attention to the situation and that fact that it had ALMOST led to an akuma made him look even closer into things.

And he was not happy with what he found. The paparazzi pictures and articles that resulted from Lila and Adrien’s flashy dates had started positively enough with headlines and puff pieces about how cute the couple looked together, how it was nice to see the young Agreste in more casual settings with his girlfriend. But as the dates became more and more frequent and Lila’s constant demands and needs grew the articles slowly began to change soon they were discussing the concerning amount of money Adrien must be spending on his girlfriend, how exhausted and stressed the young Agreste heir looked under his strained smiles and was he eating and sleeping enough?

The akuma he’d sent had only further confirmed Gabriel’s negative feelings toward Lila though it did make him re-evaluate the young Lahiffe boy. Gabriel had originally thought the wannabe musician might just be interested in Adrien for money but seeing the lengths he went to defend his friend had the designer impressed and even a little grateful. So when Lila phoned to try and throw the boy under the bus and get Gabriel to side with her, well she had another thing coming.

Marinette heard later from Alya and the rest of the girls that Lila was ‘devastated’ how she’d wailed sobbed and thrown the tantrum of the century as she ranted and raved about Gabriel putting a 1 date a month maximum limit on Adrien and Lila. The two lovebirds could still hang out of course but it would be in the company of the rest of the class or other friends, or if they really wanted some privacy it would be strictly at the Agreste mansion for studying. Lila had told the girls that it was unfair and unjust that Gabriel was trying to get in the way of their love! Alya had relayed to Marinette that while the girls agreed that 1 date a month was a bit rough they all thought Lila’s tantrum was a bit childish especially when they all remembered how Marinette had rarely if ever got to enjoy 1 private date a month with Adrien and never in public.

Of course just because Lila had been told ‘no’ didn’t mean the liar was going to listen. And so she began trying to find ways to manipulate Adrien into ‘accidental’ dates, bugging the blonde to take her out instead of settling for lunch at school or trying to conveniently separate the two of them from the rest of the group during weekend and after school hang outs. But each time Lila tried Nino thwarted her eventually the Italian had gotten so angry at his meddling that she phoned Gabriel again this time to try and get the musician removed or banned or ANYTHING so that he’d back off, so when she instead learned that Nino had been asked by Gabriel to keep an eye out on for his son and that Adrien knew about it well the liar was furious. 

Marinette learned later this time from Rose and Juleka that the Italian had tried to go on another tantrum tirade only to be stopped by Alya who would not tolerate anyone badmouthing her lovely boyfriend. Needless to say, Marinette was quick to notice the following Monday how Lila pouted and avoided the Ladyblogger like the plague. Luckily Marinette made sure Alya didn’t dwell on it too much by inviting the girl over to help her brainstorm some new ideas.

Because while Lila was focusing on leeching the fame and fortune off her boyfriend and being met with endless failures and a very hostile guard dog called Chloe. Marinette had been THRIVING. The suit she’d designed for Jagged had gone viral online and soon Jagged was passing on her contact information to a small selection of celebrities Marinette felt comfortable designing for. The fact that her identity was a secret and she had a very exclusive client list had only caused MDC to soar even higher in popularity with the public making it clear that they too wanted access to MDC fashion. And so Marinette had done her research and with the help of Uncle Jagged and Aunt Penny she’d set up an online store where she would sell ready made clothes. 

Of course just because Marinette was seeing success didn’t mean she had forgotten about her friends. In fact the entire class minus Lila, Adrien and Chloe knew very well the true identity of the elusive MDC and that was because while Marinette was taking big steps toward her dreams she was helping her friends do just the same. 

After all it didn’t take long for the internet to learn that the mysterious MDC designed Kitty Sections outfits causing the band to have a surge of free publicity that led to many people discovering their music and falling in love with the band. 

Then there was Nathanial, Marc and Alya who Marinette or should she say MDC collaborated with while designing her ‘hero hoodie’ fashion collection all of them saw a boost in views with Marc and Nathanial’s comic picking up new readers though it was there brand new all original idea that had really flown off the shelves earning them an online cult following. Alya meanwhile got her blog spotted by Lois Lane herself who was impressed with the young future journalist and contacted Alya for a summer internship the scream Alya had made almost gave Marinette a heart attack.

And it didn’t end there. When Nino made a short film with Mylene and Kim of all people as his lead actors and uploaded it for free to YouTube MDC who was well known for supporting smaller creatives and signal boosting them on her social media was more than happy to make a tweet linking to the short film. Nino’s short film had been impactful and powerful despite being a comedy satire on Hawkmoth and it had quickly blown up earning Nino a summer internship at a film studio and Mylene and Kim several job offers. Kim had never been particularly interested in acting but after seeing the outpouring of love and support not to mention with the encouragement he got from his lovely girlfriend Ondine he decided to accept a few offers surprising everyone as he developed a new passion that he and Mylene bonded over.

Max, and Alix were also boosted in a similar way to Nino, Kim and Mylene when MDC retweeted some of their creative endeavors. Alix a video where she had used spray paint to recreate a few classical paintings though that had only acted as a signal boost that allowed the skater to be noticed for her real passion Extreme Sports! When a very exclusive extreme sports training summer camp contacted Alix about her attending she’d squealed almost as loud as Alya had. Max meanwhile had his demo for his work in progress video games retweeted by MDC and saw a huge surge in interest and a few interested investors and publishers even arrived with offers, though before he could agree to anything his popularity ballooned even further when a video of him showing off Markov surfaced. He had later joked to Marinette that while he appreciated the support he wasn’t sure how he felt about suddenly gaining a ‘nerd cult’ as Kim called it. 

Of course all of Marinette’s friends knew she was largely responsible for their sudden surge of fame and good fortune and many of them tried to dismiss their own talents and give all the credit to Marinette. But the young designer simply threw it back at them. Yes she had signal boosted them and given them a helping hand but at the end of the day the only reason they had gotten so popular and stayed so popular after the brief burst from her influence passed and the internet moved on to the next big thing was because they were talented and amazing without Marinette.

The only problem with the classes' new found fame. Was that sooner or later Lila was bound to take notice. And take notice she did when Mylene appeared as an extra in one of Lila’s favorite daytime soaps. The liar had been so focused on Adrien and trying to leech her fame off him while beating Chloe back with a stick that she had somehow missed all the major developments. And she was livid. 

She was supposed to be the most popular girl in school! She was meant to be the star, the one people admired and aspired to be like! The one they envied but loved too much to truly hate! And when she’d finally gotten Marinette and Adrien to break up she thought for sure that all her dreams would come true. But somehow while she’d been busy trying to reign in the pesky little blonde her classmates had all gone and gotten famous without her. Most of them wouldn’t even BE in Paris in the fast approaching summer since many of them either had internships, specialized camps, acting gigs, or in Kitty Sections case a whole music tour with Jagged Stone that for some reason Marinette was also a part of?!? 

None of it made any sense and when Lila had gone looking for how exactly everything had happened she kept finding herself looking at MDC’s social media. The elusive and private designer was apparently a super sucker or something as every week they would highlight some small time random creator. Honestly it disgusted Lila who just handed out fame like that? Fame and popularity was meant to be exclusive! Earned! Something for only the most beautiful and talented of society. Not for chubby little idiots like Mylene or nerdy freaks like Max. 

Of course Lila was nothing if not an opportunist. Sure in her opinion none of her talentless, average, classmates actually deserved their new found fame and popularity but the good thing was they were also a bunch of gullible idiots. And if she played her cards right they would surely carry her to the top. She already had the perfect lie, she would simply claim to be best friends with MDC and tell the class that she had been the one to recommend that the designer boost her classmates. 

It was perfect. Genius really.

So then why did it fail immediately?

Lila stood in front of the class, her face frozen in shock as she was stared down by 10 pairs of angry glares. She had expected overwhelming thank you’s and the class bowing at her feet but the second the lie slipped out of her mouth the class instead turned on the liar like a close knit pack of wolves smelling a sheep. Honestly Lila could not understand where she’d gone wrong, and even if she had said something that was an obvious lie wouldn’t the class just normally brush it off as her disease? So why is it that they were acting this way?

It was Alya who broke the silence first.

“You want to run that by us again? Lila.” 

The Italian girl swallowed the lump in her throat and ignored the obvious warning sign that was Alya’s sharp tone. Forcing a charming smile Lila brought out her sweetest voice determined that she could salvage whatever THIS was.

“I was just saying that I’m so happy for all of you! I didn’t want to say anything at the time BUT me and MDC are such good friends! So when he-”

“He?” Alix snorted and rolled her eyes. “Yeah that about confirms it.”

The entire class seemed to agree with Alix as they all shook their heads and shot Lila disappointed and annoyed looks before returning to their own conversations and or hobbies freezing her out. Ignoring her.

Oh that? That pissed Lila off like nothing else. Her cheeks grew hot as she stomped her foot angrily, regaining their attention. 

“You guys think I’m telling lies again! You all promised that you wouldn’t judge me for my disease but you are!” For added effect she started to sniffle and sob expecting the class to do what they always did and feel guilty about their treatment of her and rush to comfort her.

Instead she was met with even harsher glares.

“Uhh yeah no duh we think you're lying because you ARE. We” Alix gestured to the people currently in class. “Have all met MDC and SHE not ‘he’ is a wonderful person who helped boost our careers because she thinks we're all super cool and talented not because you asked her too.” 

Lila felt her face screw up like she’d just sucked a lemon but she quickly worked it to her advantage as she began to loudly sob.

“T-That’s not fair! You know I can't help my disease!” 

“Uhh yeah no. I’m stopping you there.” Alya stood up looking down from her perch at Lila with her hands on her hips commanding the room, Lois had been training her well. “We can accept that MAYBE your lying disease makes you claim things when your nervous or scared like how you always accuse Marinette of stuff, and we can MAYBE believe that your disease makes you mix up names and words so you end up giving the wrong information out about charities and celebrities and yes MAYBE we can believe that you sometimes make false claims about yourself when your stressed out like that time with Clara Nightingale stealing your dance moves. Whatever! But Lila that right there? You were not having an ‘oops I lied’ moment you were actively trying to deceive us to make the false claim that YOU are the reason MDC noticed us when we know the truth. And when I gave you a chance to correct yourself you tried to double down. That was intentional. That was malicious.”

Lila felt her mouth fall open, her eyes blinking in shock. Too late she tried to recover. Tried to explain away the situation and make herself out to be innocent. But the class was done with her and they made it clear in how they iced her out. Eventually she had no choice but to suck it up and sit down at her seat. Not long later Marinette rushed into class followed by Chloe who was latched onto Adrien with Sabrina in tow.

Soon enough the school year came to an end and Lila watched bitterly through the all seeing eyes of the internet as her classmates left for their internships, job opportunities, highly specialized summer camps, and more. Meanwhile she was stuck at home. Oh sure she got to go on a few out of country photo-shoots with Adrien but her fame was still nothing compared to her boyfriends, and it was quickly becoming less than nothing as her classmates rose in influence and popularity. Come the new school year Lila would need to find some way to force the class back under her heel.

Marinette was having the best summer of her life! Jagged had taken Kitty Section on tour with him and insisted on Marinette coming with them as their designer. Marinette hadn’t been sure at first worried about the Hawkmoth situation and her own career. But in the end Tikki and her parents had convinced her. Her parents loved the idea of Marinette leaving Paris and going to see the world with her friends for a bit, and Tikki had reminded Marinette that she had the Horse Miraculous and could come home anytime, besides Hawkmoth had been getting lazier and lazier with both his akumas and the amount of them. So in the end Marinette agreed and it had been the BEST decision of her life.

They visited England before eventually traveling overseas to America. The sights and sounds and new foods were filling Marinette with inspiration and she’d never been so busy sketching. Then of course there was the great company. Uncle Jagged and Aunt Penny were wonderful and quickly ‘adopted’ all of Kitty Section + Marinette. They'd act like doting parents one second and then the next they’d be ordering way too much pizza for the teens to share. 

Of course everyone missed their friends and family but video call existed and it was only for the summer anyway. Ivan was the one who was probably the worst off pouting over his beloved Mylene but the group was able to cheer him up encouraging him to write a song for his girlfriend, the piece he wrote became a new hit single the second they performed it on stage and Mylene had loved it. 

The group stopped by Florida first where Jagged took them all to Disney World and then Universal Park, pictures of the rocker wearing mickey mouse ears and a hufflepuff scarf of all things while being followed by a gaggle of teenagers had soon gone viral, after that it was off to New York, and then Metropolis where they spent a bit of time so Alya could see them and hang out. Her internship with Lois Lane was going well but she’d still been relieved to see her friends and get some down time to just chill. After that they went to Gotham, which was Jagged’s home town. Now most parents might veto a place as dangerous as Gotham but seeing as how Paris was under siege by an emotional butterfly themed terrorist and they were from a class particularly used to dealing with deadly akumas on a regular basis well they were able to convince their parents to let it happen. And to Marinette’s surprise Gotham turned out to be her favorite place of the whole trip.

Sure the city was gloomy but the gothic architecture somehow inspired Marinette, and while the people were not outwardly all smiles and sunshine they were kind in their own way. But the thing Marinette ended up loving most about Gotham was its beautiful parks and famous greenhouses. Thanks to the influence of Poison Ivy and Bruce Wayne the city of Gotham had become the greenest city in all of America and it was a never ending source of inspiration for the young designer. Not to mention it was thanks to all the inspiring greenery that Marinette had met HIM.

She’d been walking through one of Gotham’s older parks admiring the beautiful blooming wisterias that had been shaped into a long hallway arch when she got bowled over by a massive terrifying but very friendly dog. Marinette had been terrified at first until she noticed the fast wagging tail and happy smile on the dog's face. Tikki had warned her that one side effect of holding the Ladybug miraculous would be extra friendly animals a rather ‘tame’ side effect compared to the super strength, increased speed, and occasional urge to hibernate when cold but still the designer had never expected to be attacked with friendly happy dog kisses, not like THIS anyway. As she squirmed and laughed she tried to gently push the dog off. That was when the dogs owner had come to her rescue. Yanking his dog off of her while admonishing it Marinette was finally able to sit up and begin wiping the dog drool off her cheek with a laugh.

“Don’t scold the cutie too much I’m okay I swear he didn’t hurt me.”

“Even if he didn’t hurt you he’s been trained better than that. I’m very sorry, please allow me to help you.”

The boy’s voice was cool, firmly polite and matter of fact leaving no room for argument. To an untrained ear he might even sound annoyed or angry but Marinette could tell that wasn’t the case. As Marinette accepted the hand the boy offered and let herself be pulled up she suddenly came face to face with the most beautiful pair of green eyes she’d ever seen. 

Where Adrien’s eyes were bright like a blinding peridot green, these eyes were soft and warm like the green of a pine tree and Marinette could feel herself melt into them. It didn’t help that the rest of the boy's face was also incredibly handsome. The designer quickly shook herself out of her thoughts and glanced away not wanting to stare. Instead she directed her attention to her assailant, the dog was sitting now staring up at her with its tail still wagging wildly. Marinette smiled and reached her hand down letting the dog sniff her before she gave him some soft pets.

“Such a softy for a big guy. What's his name?” 

“Titus. And I apologize again. He really is trained better than that. I don’t know what came over him.” 

Marinette felt a little bad but she couldn’t exactly say that she was the chosen champion of a god and a side effect of that was very friendly animals so instead she shot the boy a smile.

“Don’t worry I just seem to have that effect on animals. Back home the pigeons and crows have started fighting for dominance of my roof and balcony because they both want my attention.” 

The boy gave her a stunned look before he made a sound that Marinette believed might be a covered up laugh. She smiled even brighter and offered the boy her hand to shake.

“By the way my name is Marinette. And it's a pleasure to meet you.”

The boy looked at her hand for a moment before he eventually grabbed it and shook it awkwardly.

“Damian… It's nice to meet you too. Though I can tell by that introduction that you're not from here.”

Marinette snorted at that.

“Really the introduction was what gave it away but not my accent?” 

The boy seemed to blush a little at that before he coughed awkwardly. Marinette took pity on him and giggled.

“You are correct in your deduction mr.detective. I’m visiting from Paris, France with some friends and my uncle.” 

If Marinette hadn’t been too embarrassed to look him in the eyes she may have noticed the spark of curiosity when she mentioned Paris. And had she known who Damian truly was at the time she would have known that his curiosity came from the fact that Batman and the other supers had recently learned about the situation in Paris thanks to Lois Lane taking on a new intern who ran the Ladyblog. Mayor Bourgeois had been doing a good job hiding the situation but he’d overlooked the civilian journalist. 

“Hm. We don’t get many tourists. What brought you all the way out here. If I may ask.” 

Naturally without much thought the pair began to walk through the park together as their conversation flowed. Marinette avoided using Jagged's name not wanting her new very handsome friend to take an interest in her solely for her connections. Instead she told him that Gotham was her uncles hometown and that this was the last stop on what had already been a pretty busy summer vacation. That turned into her telling him a bit about her family in general which got him talking about his family, he complained about his adopted siblings of which there seemed to be many but Marinette could tell he loved them. 

Talking about family made him admit he’d come to the park to get away from them for a little while which got Marinette talking about the park and all the beautiful nature in Gotham which got the two of them talking about the best parks in Gotham and then Marinette brought up her sketches and suddenly they were talking about art and other hobbies. Before they had even realized it they were sitting at a bench together hidden away in the trees and wisterias chatting away. Marinette didn’t know why but something about Damian made her feel comfortable. Maybe it was the way he gave her his full undivided attention, maybe it was the way he made sure not to invade her space without consent or how he didn’t interrupt her when she spoke. Either way she felt safe, felt warm, almost like she was home. And judging by the way he seemed to relax the longer they spoke, his stiff body unwinding and his gaze softening, she thought maybe he felt just as comfortable with her as she was with him.

Honestly Marinette could have sat there chatting with Damian all day in fact it had already been several hours when the pair were finally interrupted. Both of their phones began to ring, Marinette’s with the tell-tale alarm of an akuma attack in Paris and Damian’s with an emergency as the Riddler had broken out of Arkham. The teenagers regretfully had to go both citing emergencies before they departed. It wasn’t until later that they realized they had forgotten to exchange phone numbers.

The akuma back in Paris had turned out to be Lila Rossi, it seems that Adrien’s fangirls had never truly warmed up to the liar and they had been trying to dig up dirt on the girl for months before finally finding there evidence. Alya may have privated the videos of Lila’s lies after finding out about the ‘lying disease’ but apparently someone had copied and saved them beforehand. And those videos had finally made their way out into the public. Luckily no one criticized Alya seeing as how she’d already had the common sense to remove the videos from her blog it helped that Alya also made a post explaining the situation in more detail which led to the general public agreeing that it had not been Alya’s fault when she had a teacher and a principle telling her to believe in a fake ‘lying disease’ clearly it was the adults at fault here not the young girl who had believed in them. 

Needless to say the public ripped Lila to shreds for being a serial liar with more of her lies coming to light each day now that she had been exposed. And obviously the Italian had not taken it well and gotten akumatized.

Marinette knew that she should be happy that Lila had been exposed. Her classmates certainly were, but instead Marinette could not help but mope. Damian had been SO kind she really had wanted to get to know him better. The fact she’d completely missed out on getting his number gnawed at her. Little did she know that Damian was across the city thinking the same thing as he sat on a Gargoyle statue. 

But fate likes to play funny games. A few days later Jagged got a call from Bruce Wayne, a few of his sons namely Tim, Jason and Dick had heard about Jagged being in town and tjat the rocker had brought MDC the famous designer with him. Apparently they were huge fans and had bugged, pleaded, whined, and eventually threatened a hunger strike until Bruce would ask Jagged to pretty please introduce them. So Jagged got the go ahead from Marinette and the gaggle of teenagers plus Jagged and Penny piled into a big van and drove over to the Wayne mansion.

Seeing it from the outside, Marinette felt only intimidation and dread. It was so huge and they were so rich. What if they were unimpressed when they found out MDC was just some teenage girl? Letting Jagged guide her and her friends push her forward Marinette nervously knocked on the door and let herself be led inside by the kind old man who introduced himself as Alfred.

Walking through the halls in wonder Marinette slowly felt her fingers twitch with the urge to design. But she suppressed it and focused not wanting to be rude. As the group turned a corner into a large sitting room Marinette’s blue eyes somehow found a pair of familiar green. She gasped, he blinked wide eyed.

“Marinette?” - “Damian?” 

They blinked again, shocked. Marinette eventually snorted and laughed. Damian found himself smiling as he approached the small girl. And everyone else? Well they were just confused. Except for Damian’s family they were confused and freaked out. 

“Is the demon spawn, smiling Dicky bird? Or am I hallucinating?”

“No I see it too Jason. He looks genuinely happy.”

“So it's official.” Tim added “we're all hallucinating.”

After some introductions and explanations things settled down with Marinette happy to take the Wayne’s on as clients. And the Wayne’s in turn being suitably impressed and amazed by the young girls accomplishments though the part they found most amazing was how she interacted with not only them but Damian. She was genuine and kind, no fake smiles or hidden double meanings, nor did she let their money and fame impress or blind her in any way. Jason soon declared her a little sister and Jagged preened and puffed as he gloated about not only Marinette but Kitty Section as well. 

The rest of the summer spent in Gotham was tons of fun with Jason teaching Juleka and Marinette how to shoot guns and ride motorcycles, Rose and Marinette learning some of Dick’s gymnastics moves, Ivan meanwhile got along well with the quiet Cass and level headed Duke. Eventually Stephanie and Bab’s returned home as well and they also took to the french teens with ease they organized girl nights where they taught the girls how to break and enter something Marinette had a natural affinity for go figure. The most surprising development however was Luka. The slightly older boy had seemingly set his sights on the awkward coffee addicted Tim and had spent the remainder of the summer wooing him. 

But while Luka was wooing Tim there was one other couple slowly forming. Everyone had seen the spark between Damian and Marinette and soon enough everyone was shipping it. The pair were often ‘conveniently’ left alone or were sent on errands that somehow conveniently became accidental dates. Marinette had been guarding her heart after Adrien had shattered it but Damian made her want to take the risk and fall in love. He was charming, polite, kind, sarcastic, and as she’d learned after telling him about the entire Paris situation akuma’s and all he was protective but without going so far as to undermine Marinette’s strength. He trusted her to be fast and smart and strong enough to defend herself (especially after they did a bit of fight training for fun and she laid him flat on the ground) but he did worry and care about her.

But still there was something holding back both teens. Something that shattered near the end of the vacation. Marinette had been caught by a villain. Poison Ivy to be exact. The plant villainess had taken note of the new frequent visitor to her greenhouse but what had really gotten her attention was how the plant life reacted to her. And furthermore how the plant life SPOKE about her. Ivy’s curiosity eventually grew too large and so she snatched up the young designer and brought her home. Luckily Marinette wasn’t particularly scared of Ivy or Harley, sure she didn’t like being knocked out but she felt no real fear, in the end Ivy, Harley and Marinette ended up having an unprompted girls day complete with junk food, ranting, bad American tv and more. Ivy eventually figured that Marinette was some kind of Meta one who had a strong influence over plant and animal life and that was enough for her to adopt the small half Asian girl and inject her with her special blend the same one she’d given to Harley to keep her safe in a town full of crazies.

But while Marinette was perfectly fine hanging out with 2 of the 3 sirens Damian had not taken it so well. He had scoured the city trying to find the sirens newest abode all while he gnawed his lip until it bled. Maybe it was the stress that made him slip up or maybe it was just Marinette being too smart for her own good. But when the young Robin came bursting in through a window yelling Marinette’s name something had immediately clicked and she knew who he was. After she’d calmed the situation down and made sure no one fought anyone else, Marinette thanked Ivy and Harley for the nice day and let Robin carry her away. After talking with Tikki and deciding to be reckless and selfish for once in her life Marinette confronted Damian the next day, revealing her own identity in the process. There was some freaking out and a LOT of talking with Tikki and the rest of the bat clan but in the end it seemed to work out for the best. Ladybug was certainly happy to accept the help anyway even if Chat Noir wasn’t going to be.

A week later Damian finally asked Marinette out. Two days after that they shared their first kiss on the ferris wheel. And come the end of summer Marinette, Kitty Section and surprise guests Damian and Tim Wayne were all boarding a flight back to Paris.