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“Of course he’s in love with me. We were dating for months now.”
“That’s bullshit!” Marinette blows up over Lila Rossi’s latest lie, claiming to be dating Chat Noir, the second she hears it. How dare she, that snake, to drag her Chaton into this!?
It was bad enough she was going around lying about her alter ago but to drag her partner in the mud… that bitch!
Everyone’s head snaps towards her. She realizes her mistake immediately but it’s too late. Lila gasps dramatically. “Are you calling me a liar?”
She sees the way Adrien flinches at the question as she flinches simultaneous. God, she says that all the time! How the hell didn’t anyone notice anything weird about it!?
“Everyone knows Chat Noir is in love with Ladybug.” She doesn’t fall into the very obvious trap and blatantly ignores her. She’s getting better at it.
(Not just yet though, since she got herself in this mess.)
(But hey! She couldn’t let someone like that lie-la do whatever she wants with her Chaton’s name!)
The comment makes some people to double think but Lila is fast to _lie more_ control damage. “Of course but he was trying to move on and he came to his second-best choice. Me of course. Being Ladybug’s best friend and everything. They are just professional partners now.”
Ok, yeah, no, that’s it. “He would never date you.” Because she herself would make sure to strangle her partner and lecture him hours over falling for liars who only try to use him. Even the thought is horrifying.
But that’s the point, she doesn’t have to. Chat knows what a bitch of a liar Lila is and doesn’t like her at all. Seriously she’s doing this for Lila’s own safety. Because if not Howkmoth, Chat noir is definitely going to kill her when he hears about this.
And she might not even try to stop him.
“That’s so mean Marinette.” The Italian rat fakes tearing up and gives them her ‘I’m innocent and being violated here’ face. “Why are you so sure about all this anyway?”
Everyone turns back to her.
“Yeah, why are you so insistent?”
“That’s mean Marinette!”
“Do you have any proof?”
What the actual fuck!? Lila’s the one going around saying things and they want her to bring proofs!?
Fine! This is probably not going to work but she’s not going to back down. Hell Nah.
“Because_”
“Because he’s with me!” Adrien shouts out of nowhere.
Everyone's eyes snap back to him now. Marinette looks down at him in horror.
What did he just_
“HE’S WHAT!?” Alya and Nino yell in unison.
Adrien flinches but keeps himself steady. Marinette doesn’t know how but she can sort of feel him panicking inwardly.
“Dude you’re bi!?”
Marinette raises an eyebrow at Nino’s comment because was that all he actually get out of that sentence?
“Why didn’t you tell us anything!?” Alya asks next. A little offended but downright astonished as well.
And Marinette… she just stopped functioning altogether.
“Because my father would kill me.” Adrien spits out the first things in his mind and then freezes. His eyes go wide and he’s suddenly very pale. “Oh shit! My father’s going to kill me!” He might just have realized what he did. He’s going to send himself through a panic attack but Nino gets to him in time.
(And is he standing a little closer than usual?)
Marinette keeps looking at him in horror and Confusion. God, what was he thinking, lying about something like that!?
She then stops.
…it was a lie, right?
Because Adrien was perfect and Chat was awesome and they would totally look great together and both of them deserve someone who loves them and Chat wouldn’t hesitate when he loves someone and of course he recognizes someone as awesome as Adrien and everyone have at least a crush over Chat and…
Shit! Her crushes were dating each other!
...wait.
…Crushes?
HOLY SH_
“Oh, Adrien you ok!?” Alya rushes to assure him. “It’s ok. We understand, we’re not telling anyone.” The class starts talking and reassuring him in no time as well.
“Thanks, Alya.” He gives her a weak smile but he still seems unholy pale. “We weren’t going to tell anyone because it would be just so dangerous and Ladybug would kill us.” He pales a little more over that one and now he’s looking guilty.
It disappears the second his eyes fall over Lila. There’s entirely anger in his eyes now but there is also something else.
Marinette frowns because is that glee?
“Though I didn’t expect someone going around lying about this stuff. Do you realize how dangerous is that Lila?”
Wait_
“Marinette knew and was trying to protect us from you and your lies hurting us. But then you tried to target her!”
_did he lie about this so he could protect her?
(There is still a big chance of this being real. Maybe he was including her to protect her?)
She just does the smart thing. Pushes back all her panicking and crazy thoughts in the back of her mind and jumps to the chance of disposing Lila Rossi. “Yeah! And now Adrien is going to be in danger because of you! What if Hawkmoth goes after him?” she’s a little worried over that for real now.
Lila is left outright speechless. She sure-as-hell didn’t expect this. She knows she’s in trouble and has no idea about what to do this time. It’s her words against Adrien. She might be able to screw with Marinette because of her impulsive acts and bad history and the whole jealous-of-Adrien thing but with Adrien… she can’t do a thing.
Marinette’s very satisfied but Adrien isn’t done. “And you said this is very plausible since you’re Ladybug’s best friend?” Marinette's eyes go wide and then tries her best not to grin. “What kind of friend are you going around telling lies about her other best friend?”
There is no other Adrien, Chat is the only one.
(Alya doesn’t count. She doesn’t know yet.)
He makes it look absolutely furious and hateful because well, they did lie about his boyfriend.
God, that boy is one hell of an actor.
(…ok now she’s worried over why.)
They don’t give her a chance to come up with another lie. “Are you guys’ even friends?” Marinette eyes Lila from head to toe like she’s considering her all over. “I mean befriending a civilian and let them go around yelling it at everyone and Livestream it…” the comment makes Alya flinch. Why didn’t she use this card sooner again?
Adrien doesn’t hesitate to back her up. “That’s not like Ladybug at all.” He nods and sends Lila another sting eye.
Lila pales and stutters, stumbling over her words over and over again. “I_, of course, we’re friends! I was just_ Chat Noir_” she’s obviously longing to say Adrien’s lying and asks him to show them proof but she can’t. So she gets to the next option. “Chat Noir asked me to do this himself!” she cries out. Falling over the lines of her lie quite fast. “He was worried someone’s going to know so asked me to cover you up.”
Marinette looks at her with a bewildered expression. That’s the most ridiculous lie she had ever heard in her life. And she means Chloe-ridiculous level. Like utterly ridiculous!
The look of disbelief on some of their friend's faces is comforting though.
Adrien raises an eyebrow at her with this look that screams ‘Are you really that stupid?’
“And why the hell didn’t he tell me?”
“He didn’t want to make you worry!” The olive eye liar declares, trying to look sympathetic.
Adrien sneers. “Yeah? So did he also ask you to try and keep up my appearance in front of my father and the public?”
“Yes!” Lila jumps right to the idea. “He knows how worried you get over your father.” Some people seem to be ready to believe her but it gets crushed in a second because Adrien isn’t finished.
“By sticking to me like a lich and outright harassing me?” he snarls at her.
There are loud gasps heard from several people but Adrien keeps glaring at Lila. Alya is red to the gear and seems ready to go and punch Lila in the face for all her lies, Nino looks ready to give her a taste of his Carapace shield and Chloe seems like she’s going to go and strangle her to the ground and stabs her with her stinger rapidly.
The others just look outright horrified. Kim and Alix are pissed and rose seems ready to faint.
“You know what? I’m just done with your shit.” Adrien growls at the Italian. It causes their classmates to give him a surprised look because they never saw Adrien this angry. “I’m just going to dump your sorry ass because we had a fucking deal and I told you to don’t screw with the people I care about.” He keeps ranting in anger and wow, he looks pissed!
She thinks he means Chat for all two seconds.
“Did you really think I won’t realize you keep going after Marinette?” he snaps at her. Lila frowns.
Their best friend’s eyes bug out and Marinette stares at Adrien with shock. Wait he made a deal with the devil herself for her!? What deal!?
Adrien doesn’t seem to give a fuck, true to his words, he totally seems to have loosened his shit altogether. “I tried to be nice. Stop you from lying more and more because I thought you just needed friends. But you’re just being a straight off bitch!” he shouts out at her a little more and everyone keeps getting more and more angry.
Marinette is just really worried for Adrien now.
“Adrien are you_”
“Not now Marinette.” He stops her mid asking. “I’m not finished.” He’s sure angry but tries his best not to be harsh on Marinette.
She just falls in love with him a little more.
The blond gets back on his mission for the day. He stares at Alya. “She was lying about being Ladybug’s friend the whole time. And Ladybug told me herself. On the day she tried to fool me into thinking her ancestor was a fox hero.” He smirks and it’s all dark and spooky. “The one belonging to her grandmother? The one she framed Marinette of stealing with?”
Alya goes all pale. Marinette knows why because Ladybug knows why. There is no way she doesn’t believe them. They all remember the cursed necklace.
Adrien isn’t over yet. “And every time she told you something about Marinette? All lie. I mean how the hell you didn’t even realize!?”
His face is getting redder and redder by the minute from all the anger. She can do nothing but watches him with rounded eyes. Now even Nino seems worried.
“She’s the second-best person I’ve ever seen in my entire life and I only knew her for two years! You knew her forever. How the hell did you trust that snake over her!? How the hell did you ever think of her hurting someone or even lie? SHE HATES LIARS!” he yells the last part.
“ADRIEN ARE YOU OK!?” Marinette shouts out because she can’t take it anymore and is really scared now. He seems like he’s going to have a heart attack!
He looks over at her. He’s panting from his fierce ranting and have this wild look over his eyes. Marinette's heart stops for a second. She gets a sense of déjà vu. His eyes, why are they so familiar?
Lila gets one look over the irritated class and bursts out crying, running out in a hurry.
The bluenette can’t care less even if she tried. “Are you ok?” she repeats again.
Adrien closes his eyes. “Ladybug is gonna be furious, my father is going to kill me, and I had one heck of a week.” He sighs and gives her the look off someone who’s absolutely done with life. “So, no Marinette. I’m not.” He then turns around and puts his forehead on the desk.
Marinette isn’t sure which one surprises her more. The fact he really admitted to not being ok or that he thinks Ladybug’s going to be angry? Why would he even think that!? He was a fucking hero just now!
(Though she’s gonna ask why he didn’t tell him about the whole dating thing later.)
Nino sits next to him, whispering worriedly. The rest of the class is either sending her ashamed looks or worried ones towards Adrien. Some are still left on processing over what the fuck just happened. Alya is in the former. Marinette will deal with her later. For now, she and Nino have a sunshine child to patch up.
--------
“I fucked up.”
The first words out of Chat Noir’s mouth the second her feet hit the rooftop.
Her eyebrows jump up. She did realize something is wrong when Chat Noir contacted her before she asked for a meeting. Asking anxiously if they could meet as soon as possible.
He did seem worried and anxious but she didn’t think he’s this worried. He was looking anywhere but her, fidgeting with his tale and rocking back and forth on his heels. God, what happened?
“Hey, it’s ok.” The questions could wait. He‘s more important. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“I_” He looks at her. “God I fucked up! This’s a mess. My father’s gonna kill me and you’re gonna be_” he’s ranting and he’s gonna have a panic attack.
She runs to him and hugs him. “Kitty it’s ok! I’m not gonna be mad.” Hopefully. “It’s ok. You panicking won’t help anyone.”
“I’m sorry, so sorry, god I fucked up_” he pushes his face into her hair and just shakes more.
She makes him to sit down and sits over his lap so he can fully hug her. “Chaton breath. Breath. One. Two…”
It takes some time _the sun is almost gone_ but he does start to breath more normally eventually. He then starts purring. She caresses his hair softly. “Now talk to me.”
“Ladybug I_”
“Chat.” She calls him firmly but still soft. “Talk to me.”
“Ok.” He whispers quietly. Then takes a shaky breath. “Ok. Ok I_” Then takes a few more breaths. “So I wasn’t having a good week.”
Yeah, she knew about that one. No matter how many times he said he’s fine but he wouldn’t be able to fool her.
“And there is this girl in my class, Elle, who’s a flat out liar.” There is anger in his voice. “And I just really hate her guts.” He sighs. “Then there’s this other girl in my class, Emme, who’s my friend _or I like to think_ and a very important person to me.”
She listens silently. Nothing seemed so awful or out of ordinary so far.
(What girl?)
“So Emme hates liars as much as you do so you can imagine how their relationship is like.” She hums to show she’s listening. “So, I actually want Emme to like me and Elle was walking over my mind for a while now. I always hated how she always targeted Emme. She even tried to expel her once!”
Ladybug’s heart misses a beat.
“But I wasn’t going to have any of that so I made a deal with her. You see she was after fame. She lied for attention and well I sort of could give her what she wanted so I told her I’ll let her stay close if she leaves Emme alone.”
Ladybug’s heart stops for real now. This couldn’t_ it was all a coincidence_
Wait! “Are you telling me you sold your soul to the devil just to keep her away from this girl?”
Chat just shrugs and shoves his head a little more into her hair. “Nothing I’m not used to.”
What the hell was that supposed to mean!? Did he sell his soul on a regular basis!?
(He did throw his life for her in a regular basic…)
“Anyway,” he moved away from it like it wasn’t important! “Today Elle was lying about dating me.” He then backs away to point at himself. “Like, the cat me.”
Her eyes go round and she takes a sharp breath.
Which he takes wrongly to it. “Yeah, super stupid right? Emme thought the same. She sort of exploded and then the bitch tried to make her look bad and I just_” He screws his eyes shut. “I wasn’t thinking. Like at all and I just_ I clearly didn’t think it through.” He drops his head back on her shoulder.
She looks at the back of his blond head _the very familiar back of blond hair_ and tries to don't have a heart attack.
“So you said you, Chat Noir you, is dating _ what? Yourself?” she asks the cursed question and if he tells her what she thinks he will_
“Yes.”
FUCK!
“It seemed like a good idea at the time!” he backs away and rushes to explain and she thinks she might have yelled out loud. “It was going to be the words of me against, well, me! No one could prove wrong of it!”
Ok, if you looked at it that way, it seemed like one hell of a brilliant idea.
“But I just didn’t consider how my father is going to go absolutely berserk over the idea of me dating a guy or how Howkmoth might try to come after me...” His face falls and he seems just so devastated.
She just stares at him in disbelief and shock. Then faceplants his chest. “Dammit, Adrien!” Ladybug whispers.
Chat Noir suddenly goes very still.
“God Chat. Adrien. God, you idiot!” she moves away and cups his cheek, making him to look at her. “Did you let Lila harass you just to get her off my tail?”
He stares at her with a blank expression. “She was hurting her,” he answers her on autopilot, still dazed from what the fuck just happened.
“And she was hurting you!” she yells at him but he keeps looking at her with the same blank eyes.
“You_”
“Tell me that I’m more important than you and I’ll strangle you with my yoyo.” she threatens him.
He stops the automatic answer and just keeps blinking at her rapidly.
“You know what? Scratch that. I just tell Nino and Alya and leave you at their mercy.” She tells him.
His eyes pop out and he snaps out of the fog on his mind. “Don’t tell Nino!”
She glares at him. “If you’re that scared of his reaction, then you shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”
He just blinks again. “She was hurting you.” He says it like she’s the idiot one here.
Ladybug stares at her super-stupid partner in silence. Then puts her forehead back on his chest with a sigh. “What should I do with you?” she murmurs and she sounds depressed.
He doesn’t even know what he did wrong!
She really, really, really hates Gabriel Agreste.
She tries to avert her thoughts from murder and remembers this afternoon. Then snorts. “And to think that I spend two hours of catastrophizing over my crushes dating each other.” It was quite a probability after all.
He startles so badly that she lifts her head up to make sure he’s fine. “you_ your_ what!?” he’s shocked and obviously still missing a lot of information.
Oops. I think I broke him.
“My crushes Chat. You and_ well, you.” Wow, that sounded so stupid. They were so stupid.
“I don’t understand.” He finally tells her after trying to register all of this crazy mess and failing over and over again.
“Tikki spots off.” She commends with a sigh.
His eyes snap shout immediately. Gosh, he’s just so sweet.
“Chat it's ok.” She tells him, fondling his cheek softly. “I’m sure you already know who I am.”
He tenses up for a moment and then relaxes. Opening his eyes slowly.
“Hello, Adrien.” She smiles at him with watery eyes.
His transformation falls next. The kwamis zip away to give them privacy.
He stares at her in silence all along.
“Marinette.”
He calls her like a prayer and the way his eyes shine and the little shaky smile over his lips, all those love.
She wants to cry from all the emotions in his eyes.
“My princess. Milady.”
So she does.
And then she remembers. “God, you jumped off of a building untransformed just because I told you.” She sobs and groans because dammit Chat!
He smiles a little more and brushes away her tears. “I’ll do anything for you.”
“Yeah, I know that.” She snaps at him. “And I don’t like it. So just, stop dying!” she yells at him.
He just shakes his head. He looks just so sad. “You know I can’t promise you that.” He kisses her forehead and she closes her eyes. More tears go down.
She hates it.
She hates that he’s right.
She hates him.
“I hate you.” She tells him. “I hate you for making me love you so much and then lose you.”
He just chuckles sadly. “I love you too.”
She just kisses him.
“So, not mad I take it?” he says after they both calm down.
“Oh no. I’m still gonna tell Nino about your stupid defensive tactics.” She says with a raised brow.
Someone needs to teach this boy about self-value.
He just groans. “He’s not gonna be happy.”
“No. No, he’s not.” She nods then eyes him warily. “Did you really told everyone you’re dating yourself just to back me up?”
“Well I mean, I was going to knockout Lila sooner or later but then you got involved and_” he shrugs sheepishly. “I guess I sort of panicked?”
“You were having a bad week too.” She reminds him.
“Yeah. Yeah, I was.” He agrees calmly.
“Ok, so you sacrificed yourself, again, just for me, again.” She quirks an eyebrow. “What is even there to be angry at?”
He shrugs weakly. “Well, I was a little worried_”
“You were going to have a panic attack Chaton.” She reminds him again and he goes silent.
She just shakes her head. “I don’t know either to hit you or kiss you.”
“Do I have a choice?” he asks.
She just stares at him. Then sighs, and puts her head back over his chest.
They don’t say anything for a few more minutes.
“My Father’s gonna kill me.” He says aloud with a tired voice. “Even if no one tells him Lila will.”
“What? How?” she asks frowning in his chest.
“She’s my dad’s spy.” He admits and Ladybug’s jaw drops. She draws back to stare at him.
“She’s what!?” the astonishment is obvious in her voice and face and everything.
“Yeah. How do you think she always got away with walking on my nerves?”
Harass, you mean?
“That’s why I lost it that badly today. I knew she’s going to tell my father anyway so I said screw it and let it all out.” He sighs again, looking absolutely exhausted.
“Remember when I told you I’m going to deck your father the first chance I get?” She reminds him and he opens his eyes to look at her. “Well, I changed my mind. I’m going to kill him.” He blinks a few times. Then laughs.
“I’m gonna help with that,” Plagg comments out of nowhere.
Adrien stops laughing right away. “Plagg no.”
“Plagg yes.” He says stubbornly.
The bug heroin just smirks. She’s liking the little guy already.
Plagg smirks back at her.
Huh, looks like the feeling is likewise.
“What are we gonna tell Alya?” she changes the subject. She and Plagg can plan their murder later.
“Huh?” Chat stops frowning at his kwami to turn and look at her. “About what?”
She raises an eyebrow. “The reason I can’t keep my hands off of you and the fact you look more than happy about it?” he blushes madly and she likes it. It makes her feel things and she likes that too. “You didn’t miss the part about my crushes did you?”
“No.” He says, looking rather sheepish and self-conscious. “Though I’m probably gonna need some time for believing it.”
“Oh don’t worry. You have plenty of time.” She says with a sly grin and he blushes a little more. “But really, what are we gonna tell them?” she gets his head back on the problem.
He shrugs nonchalantly. “How about, you asked if you can join and we said yes?” he smirks and she smacks him in the chest with a blush.
And not because she thought of this before.
Nuh-uh.
Absolutely not.
“She’s not gonna buy that.” She warns him.
He shrugs again. “Her loss.”
She thinks for a few more seconds then shrugs as well. It is sort of the truth anyway. She just tells Alya after her speech of ‘don’t lose heart over losing the best and hottest guy you have ever seen, to the other best and hottest guy you have ever seen’ she just did that. Instead of losing heart tried to date both.
Oh, she’ll be so proud.
“It’s getting late.” He says and she comes out of her thoughts to look around.
It couldn’t be later than 8 p.m. but she guesses that counted late in Adrien’s book?
“I should get back.” But he doesn’t want to. She can’t just see it but also feel it. From his hunched shoulders to sad eyes. From how he hugs her tighter instead of letting go.
“Wanna come over?” she blurts out because she just hates his dejected face.
He snorts. “Yeah like he would let me.”
She shrugs. “He can’t do anything if he doesn’t know right?”
He just blinks at her.
She smiles and pecks his lips. Then stands up and calls for Tikki. The little gods went somewhere on their own again. “Ditch them as fast as you can and come over, I leave the window open. Wear pajamas, you’re gonna stay the night.” She tells him and then laughs when he just blinks more.
The blond stays there for a few more seconds staring towards the direction Ladybug swung.
“You heard her kid.” Comes the smug voice of his little friend. “So, whatcha gonna do about it?”
He looks over at the little black cat. “Probably something stupid.”
Plagg smirks and Adrien grins back.
“Plagg, claws out!”