Chapter Text
Marinette had always been relatively well liked throughout her life. Her classmates often sung her praises and she rarely had issues with anyone. Besides, of course, Chloé. But while the two butted heads, it was never anything dramatic or too serious. That’s why it came as a shock to most when she got into a feud with the new student.
Adrien had spent most of his life locked away on his father’s orders. Neglected and overworked. After so many years of absence from his own father, it wasn’t much of a wonder that he would begin to rebel. It started small, sneaking extra snacks from the kitchen or acting bored at photo shoots. Then it became eyerolls at adults and refusing to get up for early shoots. When his father finally noticed, he was grounded, naturally. But Adrien refused to go down without a fight.
Sneaking out to attend public school was the one act of rebellion that wouldn’t go unnoticed to the public. He had warned Chloé to tell as many people as possible, hoping the attention would force his father’s hand. It all worked out for the most part, besides his run-in with the class president his first day.
He swears up and down that he didn’t do it on purpose. How was he supposed to know she’d be in a rush and not see his legs sticking out under the desk?
Her fall garnered hysterics from Chloé which made him laugh in turn. What did he know? He’d never known anyone other than her.
Marinette had taken it as a personal attack. Taking in his general demeanor, relation to Chloé, and status as an elite, she passed what she assumed was rightful judgment.
From that day forward, the two were constantly at one another’s throats. Bickering between classes over who was in who’s way, fighting for the top score on tests, snarky remarks on the others' fashion sense. The list went on.
Things only got worse when Alya and Nino got together, the two begrudgingly third and fourth wheeling on every excursion for their best friend’s sakes.
Winning his father’s competition was a low blow. Gaining his father’s praises for something so little when he himself tried for so many years for the smallest bit of recognition... Her hat even had a feather on it! They both know he’s allergic!
His first birthday with friends was a strange experience for him. While he expected Chloé to say something, he hadn’t imagined the whole class would put together a small party at lunch for him. He received a gift from everyone. With the exception of Marinette, of course, claiming the party was her present.
Even his father surprised him with a unique gift that day. An immaculately knitted sky blue scarf, tiny gold foil laced between the stitches.
The only thing that made the day all the more better, was the look of rage it brought Marinette when he showed off the scarf to his class. Her jealousy over having his father’s attention made him beam.
The anniversary of his mother’s death came out of nowhere. It snuck up on him like a panther, dark, terrifying, and ready to tear him apart.
The rain seemed fitting for the day, it came down heavy in the morning, forcing him to drag out an umbrella while still half asleep. It wasn’t until he realized walking into school that he had grabbed his mother’s old one. That and his father’s direct avoidance of him caused a few stray tears to fall. Dropping the umbrella to his side, face angled upwards toward the grey blanket of clouds showering him from above, Adrien let a few more fall, mixing in with the rain beating against his face.
The sudden shadow and subsequent absence of water pelting his skin shook him from his daze. His umbrella was back over his head, only this time in the hands of the last person he wanted to see.
However, when Marinette made no comment on his noticeably tear stained cheeks and strange behavior, only fixing him with a sullen look, he allowed himself a moment of uncharacteristic appreciation for her. Usually, he’d have yelled at her for handling his property, especially since it was his mother’s umbrella, but he couldn’t find the strength to care. Not even when she lifted his own hand to make him take it back before clutching her jacket tighter and retreating to the locker rooms through the downpour.
She continued to remain silent as he joined her a few moments later. Even returning him one of his books he dropped while distracted and handing him an extra towel she kept for her accidental spills to dry off.
Both arrived at their classroom, still mostly damp, taking their seats. Their strange atmosphere didn’t go unnoticed by their friends who tried to continue about their day as usual. Chloé gave him a look and texted him that she was there if he needed her but everyone else didn’t seem to know what today was for him. He was grateful. Both to not be swamped with pity and Marinette’s own apparent knowledge of the day's significance. She left him alone the entire day. Not even offering her usual commentary when he sneezed, only a tissue.
He’d heard of Marinette’s infamous kindness and care for those around her, but had never experienced it until that point. He wondered briefly what it would have been like had they not gotten off on the wrong foot his first day.
He supposed that’s what drove him to speak to her when he found her at the end of the day, under the overhang at the school's entrance, hand gingerly held out to capture a few drops.
“Hey,” he chided himself for sounding so stupid. She blinked up at him momentarily. Obviously not expecting him to approach her. “Thank you, for this morning. And, well, today in general.”
She peered back out through the steady fall of the rain. “I figured you wouldn’t have told anyone what today was, so I tried to give you a break from our usual. I’m not good with words, and I know we’re not friends but, I can’t imagine what you’re going through. So some compassion was all I could really offer.”
“How did you know? About today?”
“I made a point to know. So I knew in advance to not step on your toes or say anything out of line. We may not get along but I’m not an insensitive monster.”
“So, you’re just a sensitive monster then?” His chest instantly felt lighter, heart fluttering at the easy banter that bordered just on the edge of their usual back and forth and what could only be friendship .
“Something like that.” She gave him a faint smile. Her eyes held clear pity for him but he drank it up. It was much different to the usual false pity he got from strangers. This was genuine and offered him a small bit of hope that one day they could move past whatever differences they had. He felt they would be great friends if they did. Maybe more . Adrien felt his cheeks heat as he met her deep blue eyes.
His next actions mirrored that sentiment, as he noticed the town car waiting for him a few steps away, he took a step in front of Marinette before turning to face her.
Extending his arm out, he offered her his umbrella. Much in the same way she had done to him that morning.
She stared blankly at him, blinking several times, only brought out of her trance when he reached down to grasp her hand and place the handle in it. Just as she had for him. He gave her a tight lipped smile before taking a few steps back and spinning on his heel and running down the steps to the car.
He caught her eye briefly through the window before they pulled away. She was still standing there when they rounded the corner. Her own heart racing at the interaction.
Things didn’t change much from then on, their mutual annoyance of one another was still lingering but, there was more mutual respect, boundaries he preferred to no longer cross and small gestures she seemed to offer their classmates now extended to him as well.
The real change happened when the class received another new student a few weeks later.
He was running late. Not an unusual occurrence but one he detested nonetheless. Being late meant the likelihood of running into Marinette was higher. And she was not the least bit pleasant in the mornings, especially before she had her coffee, and especially when she was running late herself.
He sprinted through the courtyard and to the locker room. The energy drink in his backpack would be fun to deal with when it was eventually opened but none of that mattered as long as he didn’t run into her. The locker room was noticeably empty when he finally got to his locker and managed to gather his books. With the coast clear and ensuring he wouldn’t smack into her when he opened the door, he skidded off to the classroom, noticing Ms. Bustier down the hall speaking to Principal Damocles, he slowed his pace.
Laughter and excited ramblings greeted him when he opened the door. His seat was occupied by Kim, who upon noticing him, slid out and allowed him in. Instead of finding Marinette behind him in her usual spot next to Alya, a new girl with chestnut hair and olive eyes sat, excitedly raving about something or another. He shot a look over to Chloé who tapped her phone in return. Pulling out his own he noticed a text that came through while he was running in a few minutes ago.
new girl
full of BS
i think you might dislike her more than you do marinette
Adrien looked back up at Chloé who had seemed to be bored of the situation. Surely if she thought he would like this girl less than Marinette, there had to be something glaringly wrong.
He tuned into her speech, an accent he couldn’t quite place laced her words, her tone sickeningly sweet, and the story unfolding for his classmates…
“So, I ran out onto the runway to fetch him! The poor little guy was so scared! What that kitten was doing out there I have no idea but I was lucky that we made it safely back without any damage other than to my eardrums. Those jet engines are so loud!”
What?
“Wow, Lila, that’s incredible! I’m sure Jagged Stone was grateful you saved his kitten!”
I’m sorry, come again?
“Of course, that’s why he wrote that song about me. I’m an honorary niece to him now. We’re very close.”
Adrien almost snorted. Jagged Stone having a kitten? Didn’t he have a crocodile? He could have sworn that day the class visited Le Grand Paris he saw the thing. Come to think of it, wasn’t the title of honorary niece given to Marinette? Hey, he may not like the girl but getting noticed by a rockstar for her talent as a designer was an incredible feat. He’s just lucky she didn’t seem to have badmouthed him to his favorite artist.
“So, you must know Marinette then?” He chided himself for speaking up once her eyes locked on him. She clearly knew who he was and was drinking up having even the slightest bit of his attention.
“I’m sorry, I don’t believe we’ve met,” she all but purred at him, extending her hand. “Lila, Lila Rossi. And you?”
He pointedly ignored her hand. “Félix Graham de Vanily.”
“Oh?” She withdrew her hand quickly, obviously taken aback. Irritation showed clearly on her
face. “I could have sworn you were-”
“C’mon Adrien, don’t be like that.” Nino smacked his back, blowing his cover, but he already got what he wanted when her expression changed again.
“Funny guy, aren’t we?” The girl laughed tensely.
“You didn’t answer my question,” he fixed her with an expressionless face.
“I’m sorry?” her smile was strained and uncomfortable.
“I asked if you knew Marinette? Dupain-Cheng? She’s also been dubbed an ‘honorary niece’ by Jagged.” Adrien wasn’t going to let her wiggle out of the conversation.
“Can’t say I’ve ever heard of her.” Some of their classmates began to mutter, catching the girls attention and causing her eye to twitch slightly as he stared her down, clearly realizing he’d walked her into a corner.
“She designed his most recent album cover?”
“Oh! Right, that’s right, her. Sorry, the name didn’t ring a bell!” the girl's face broke into a forced smile. Alya and the other girls seemed satisfied enough but he could tell Nino beside him wasn’t swayed by the shotty rebound.
“Right…anyways,” Adrien turned back around in his seat, even more annoyed than before. No wonder Chloé thought he wouldn’t like this chick. He hates liars.
The girl only seemed to talk louder and more exaggeratedly from then on. He made a point to ignore her however, and focus on going over his homework from yesterday, ensuring he didn’t miss any questions or forget a back page somewhere.
It wasn’t more than a few minutes later when the bell rang and Ms. Bustier entered the room and the crowd around the desks dispersed, she was about to shut the door behind her when a frazzled Marinette slipped in.
The one area she’d certainly never be able to one-up him in was attendance.
Adrien saw her eyes bypass him entirely in favor of observing the girl occupying her seat. He thought to say something but Ms Bustier beat him to it.
“Oh! You must be Lila, you’re welcome to take the seat at the back of the room next to Nathaniel over there.”
“Actually Ms. Bustier,” the blond turned to face Alya as she chimed in. “Lila may need some extra help since she’s new, maybe Marinette could sit in the back? Just for a couple days?”
Adrien didn’t anticipate Marinette to roll over and take that kind of ridiculous excuse, so he watched in bafflement as the girl went rigid but nevertheless complied and began walking the steps toward the back of the room.
“Well, based on the scores from her last test, I’d say Marinette should be in the spot up here. She needs all the help she can get.” He’d muttered a bit loudly. Intending to draw out the matter so his back wasn’t burned holes in by an unfamiliar set of eyes. He rather enjoyed the feeling of Marinette staring him down when he one-upped her on test scores or was called to answer a question before her. It was also fun to present his projects, keeping his peripheral vision on her from the front of the classroom as she yawned and rolled her eyes dramatically. Even if it was distracting it helped ease his nerves somewhat, however strange that seemed.
Ms. Bustier shot him an amused look before assuring Alya she’d personally see that their new student was caught up.
Adrien could sense the annoyance from the girl as she gathered her bag and climbed the stairs to the desk in the back.
He turned just in time to see Marinette sink into her own seat with a sigh of almost relief before she met his gaze, tiredly mouthing a “thanks”. Adrien could only nod curtly as their teacher began to start their lesson.