Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Marinette woke with a start to the sound of her shrill alarm, tearing her away from her dreams. She groaned, and fumbled with her phone for a brief second to silence it. With a yawn, she rolled back over in her loft bed, and sighed in relief as she closed her eyes again.

15 minutes later, her phone went off again, causing her to nearly topple off the side of her bed loft bed with a yelp.

"Marinette, are you up? You're going to be late for your first day back at school!" her mother called from somewhere beneath her trapdoor.

Marinette groaned again, the urge to flop back onto her pillows almost overpowering.

With all the strength she could muster, she managed pushed herself up, and began climbing down the creaky ladder of her bed.

Unfortunately for her, she lost her footing part way down, caught her foot on the last step and fell on her behind with an resounding bang.

"Are you alright, sweety?" her mother inquired, peeking her head through the trapdoor. Marinette sighed, rubbing the small of her back.

"I'm fine, just a little bruised. Thanks, Mama," she called back, with a small smile that she was sure looked more like a grimace as she pushed herself up. "What time is it?"

"It's 7:45. I'm both surprised, and not surprised that you just got up," her mother offered her a knowing smile before closing her trap door and making her way back downstairs.

Marinette squealed in horror, and began rushing around her room in a mad dash, trying to collect everything she'd need for her first day of school.

She dashed to the washroom at a speed that would rival a sugar high kwami, applied her makeup, brushed her teeth and hair, and hurried downstairs.

Halfway to the kitchen, she realised that she was still in her pajamas, yelped, and skidded to a stop, nearly ramming into the kitchen table. Her father chuckled in amusement as she scrambled back up the steps to her room.

She threw on her signature cherry blossom tank top, pink jeans, and blazer. She didn't bother putting her hair in her usual pigtails; it looked better down, anyway.

In a matter of minutes, she had her bag and lunch packed, and was running back to the kitchen to grab a quick bite to eat.

"Don't worry about today, mon petit," her father reassured her, placing a large hand on her shoulder. "Your mom and I contacted the school, and made sure they didn't put you in any classes with Chloe this year."

"Mama, Papa, you're the best!" Marinette exclaimed, quickly pulling both her parents into a brief, but loving embrace. Her father chuckled lightly, patting her back. Her mother pulled her into another fleeting hug, and slipped her forgotten water bottle into the side pocket of her bag in the process.

"Goodluck today, sweetie," her mother called after her, as Marinette swung her bag over her shoulder, and leaped towards the door. "Love you both!" Marinette called back to her parents, as she sprinted out the front door.

"She'll be fine, mon petit chou," her dad assured his wife, smiling lovingly at her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"I hope you're right."

* * *

Marinette made it to school 15 minutes early, surprisingly enough. She sighed in relief as she burst through the double doors, out of breath and panting.

"Girl! You're actually early for once. Shocker. Come join us!" Alya called out from the staircase. Marinette smiled brightly and waved to her best friend, who was with Nino, Adrien, Rose, Juleka, and... What.

She rubbed her eyes, and blinked dramatically a few times to make sure she was seeing right.

What the hell was he doing here?

"Alya... Hey! Yeah, I was in a bit of a rush this morning, but I still made it," Marinette replied, sceptically glancing over at Felix. He met her gaze, while scratching the back of his head with an apologetic look. Marinette raised an eyebrow at him, and looked away.

Adrien looked between the two of them and frowned slightly, noticing the odd interaction.

"Hey, Marinette. I think you've met Felix, my cousin," Adrien said, addressing her and putting his arm around Felix's shoulders. She almost let out a giggle as Felix tried to sidestep him, causing Adrien to lose his balance and nearly fall over.

"Yeah, we've met," Marinette replied coolly, recovering quickly from her amusement, and crossing her arms with her gaze returning to Felix.

She still hadn't forgotten the time when he had tried to kiss her as Ladybug while pretending to be Adrien. He wouldn't take no for an answer, so she kicked his ass.

She smirked slightly at the memory of the startled expression on his face after punching him so hard he toppled over, but quickly stopped when she realized that he was still staring at her, but this time with a questioning look. His eyes darted briefly to her earrings, but quickly went back to her eyes.

Marinette tried her best not to react to his odd behaviour, but she couldn't shake the feeling that he knew something he shouldn't.

"Well, we haven't formally met. Just through videos," Felix stated, tilting his head slightly, and raising an eyebrow at her. A slight smirk played across his lips as he leaned toward her slightly, annoying Marinette even further. She took a slight step back to maintain the distance between the two of them. Her cheeks turned a bright shade of red, and she looked away.

She mentally facepalmed. It had been a couple of years since Felix had pretended to be Adrien, and replied to a video of everyone trying to comfort him on the anniversary of his mother's death. Coincidentally, the same day of the "Ladybug" incident.

Marinette had confessed her love, but... Adrien had never seen the video.

Instead, Felix watched it, deleted it, and replied to it himself with extremely rude insults to her, and all of her friends.

His weird demeanour didn't have anything to do with her being Ladybug, obviously. Maybe the glance at her Miraculous was a coincidence? She somehow doubted it, but she couldn't exactly ask him about it. It would be too suspicious.

She glanced down at her purse where Tikki was hidden, and made a mental note to ask her what she thought about it later.

Adrien looked back and forth between Marinette and Felix once more, and a frown returned to his face. He un-looped his arm from around Felix's shoulders.

Felix sighed at Marinette and Adrien's reactions to him, and addressed Marinette again.

"Look, I know I've been... Less than kind, to all of you in the past," Felix turned to look at everyone, instead of just herself.

Marinette crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. He definitely wasn't sorry. He probably still thought it was funny. So what was his game?

"But I want to apologise to all of you. I wasn't in a great place when I sent out that video a couple years back," Felix explained, studying the floor, but with a slight eye twitch he tried to hide. "I know that doesn't excuse anything, but I hope we can move past it, and... Become friends?" Felix added, with a barely perceptible grimace. "You've all been good to my cousin, so I want to return the favour."

Marinette felt another urge to laugh at his sarcasm. Surely no one else bought his act? He was nearly as obvious as Lila.

She glared at him, and he turned to look her in the eye. Now that he was finished with that obviously fake speech, he had a kind of... Amused expression.

He offered her a quick smirk, which caused Marinette to narrow her eyes in understanding. He was definitely pretending, and he wasn't even really trying to hide it.

However, she still nodded curtly, deciding that it wasn't worth it to start unnecessary conflict. She wasn't sure if he was trying to bait her, or if he was just being difficult, but she wasn't in the mood to find out. She may as well see what he was planning first.

"Thank you, Felix," she replied shortly, mirroring his sarcastic attitude.

She was subtle enough that the others probably wouldn't notice, but Felix definitely would. She had a feeling there wasn't a lot that he didn't notice.

The two stared at each other for a few more moments. There was an odd look of calculation behind his eyes, like he was sizing her up.

His eyes narrowed slightly, then widened when they locked back on her earrings.

Marinette noted that that was the second time he'd done that, so it couldn't be a coincidence. He was definitely hiding something.

Her realisation must have been etched on her face, because he blinked a couple of times, and a superficial smirk stretched once again across his features.

"Ooookay then," Nino exclaimed, not doing much to break the tension building between the two. "I dunno what's going on right now, but it's kinda freakin' me out," Nino looked back and forth between Marinette and Felix with his eyebrows scrunched together.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Marinette murmured haughtily, crossing her arms and averting her gaze with a soft hmph.

Felix grinned at her in slight amusement, before turning his attention back to the group.

"I really do mean what I said though, and I hope we can all be friends."

Marinette let out an involuntary scoff. She managed to play it off with a cough, but it still made Alya raise an eyebrow.

Felix may have wanted to make nice, but Marinette wasn't stupid (unlike some of her friends, apparently). He clearly was trying to manipulate them.

Luckily, only Felix seemed to really notice that her outburst wasn't a random coughing fit. His smirk significantly grew. Why did he seem to find everything she did funny?

However, he quickly replaced it with a smaller, humbler smile, which instead looked a lot like a grimace to Marinette.

"What you did was totally uncool dude, but it was, like, forever ago, so I'll forget about it if you do," Nino told him with a smile, punching him in the arm.

Marinette physically facepalmed, earning a side-eye from Alya, and another glance from Felix.

"Me too. Anyone can change, and that apology was so sweet!" Rose exclaimed with a silly smile, clasping her hands and holding them up against her face. She was completely missing Felix's sarcasm.

"Yeah, totally," Juleka agreed softly, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. Marinette was turning increasingly redder by the second, but in annoyance rather than embarrassment.

Alya raised her eyebrows suspiciously, glancing over at Marinette.

Alya sighed, and offered Felix a smile. "All good here, but if you do anything like that again, I'm not gonna forgive you so fast."

Felix chuckled lightly, and everyone looked charmed.

"Understood," Felix told Alya with a smile.

"All good with me too, Felix," Adrien exclaimed with a goofy smile.

He was probably a little giddy that Felix was getting along with (mostly) everyone. "Although, you already know that. I just hope we all have classes together, so everyone can get to know you better."

"Yeah, what do you guys have first period? I have French with someone named Mrs. Burette," Felix asked everyone, not so subtly changing the subject.

Marinette's eye twitched as everyone dropped the subject, and pulled out their schedules. They started discussing subjects, teachers, and which classes they shared.

First period, Marinette had math with Alya and Rose, but unfortunately the only person she knew in her second period science class was—you guessed it—Felix.

She nearly groaned aloud at the thought of it. She silently hoped there was assigned seating, so there would be little risk of Felix sitting beside her. She didn't want to know if Felix still remembered what she had said in that old video. She'd rather live in blissful ignorance. No. Thank. You.

As they continued talking about class schedules, Marinette realised that all of her classes were with Felix except for her first period.

Great.

The silver lining was that she wouldn't have to deal with him too early in the morning everyday. She wasn't actually awake until lunch.

Alya broke away from the main group, noticing Marinette standing slightly off to the side in thought.

"Hey girl, you good over there? You're always a bit spastic, but this is a little weird," Alya asked her best friend, leaning in to talk in a hushed tone. "If this is about that video, half the school knows about your little crush, so he was bound to find out eventually," She laughed, making Marinette turn pink.

"It's not just that, he-" Marinette cut herself off.

She couldn't tell Alya about Felix trying to kiss her, because she was Ladybug when that happened. She would just end up revealing her secret identity, and it probably wouldn't even change anything. They all thought Felix's apology was sincere, but it had sounded shallow, and disingenuous. She didn't understand how they all believed him so fast.

"He... What?" Alya prompted with a raised eyebrow, leaning in slightly. Marinette inhaled sharply, and exhaled as she racked her brain for something else to say.

"He... Just seems off," Marinette finished, knowing that her excuse sounded weak. Alya never really trusted Marinette's intuition about people in general, so she doubted Alya would just take her word for it.

"Marinette, I think you should give him a chance," Alya sighed. Marinette sighed too, but for a different reason.

She already knew that Alya would say that. She'd been hoping that she'd actually trust her for once—but Alya never just took her word for anything. Not even when Lila was running around, trying to ruin her life, which she was still working on.

Lila had been so close to destroying her again and again, but Alya and the rest of her classmates (except Adrien) never seemed to believe her.

Even when there was physical evidence of Lila's schemes, all she had to do was bat her eyes, and come up with another lie—then everyone would fall all over themselves for her.

Marinette physically shrunk as these thoughts surfaced in her already overwhelmed mind.

"I know he has a... Complicated personality, but I'm giving him a chance. Adrien's giving him a chance. All of our friends are giving him a chance!" Alya whisper-shouted.

Marinette huffed, shoving Lila out of her mind. She felt a pang of annoyance at the specific mention of Adrien. "You think Adrien's decision is going to influence mine more than everyone else's just because I have a tiny crush on him?" She hissed angrily.

Alya raised her eyebrow at the word tiny, and Marinette felt a strong urge to shake some sense into her. Literally.

"You're focusing on the wrong part of what I said," Marinette finally whispered, having a hard time keeping her voice down.

"So are you, girl. This isn't about Adrien in that way, even though it is a factor," Alya said quietly with a slight smirk. Marinette promptly turned a rosy pink.

"What I'm saying is Felix pretended to be Adrien, it's identity theft! If he's willing to forgive Felix for that, then I'm good with forgiving him for a dumb video."

Marinette sighed outwardly, glancing at Felix from the corner of her eye. After his apology, he had disconnected from everyone, and started letting them carry the conversation. His expression was blank—as though he were emotionless or bored. It was hard to tell sometimes.

Marinette took a slight step back from Alya. Alya frowned at Marinette's body language, but she simply stared at her cherry blossom embroidered high tops.

"Alya... You're a reporter. You're always looking for answers, and background info on stuff, right?" Marinette asked slowly, trying to get somewhere with her seemingly naive best friend.

"Well duh," Alya smirked at her.

"In most stories, I'm assuming you have to kind of... Look deeper into things. Do more research." Marinette continued. "I don't get why you do that for your articles, but not in real day-to-day life."

"What, are you calling me dense or something?" Alya hissed, her eyebrows scrunched together as she pushed her bushy hair out of her face.

"Maybe I am," Marinette told her with a level voice, and a slight smirk. Alya stood there with a blank expression for a moment, blinking hard a few times.

The two girls stared at each other for a moment, before they both couldn't contain their smiles. She promptly burst out laughing. Marinette soon joined her. It was impossible to be serious with Alya sometimes.

"What's so funny, guys?" Rose asked with a sweet expression of blissful ignorance. "Don't worry about it," Alya replied through a snort.

Through the corner of Marinette's eye, she saw Felix check his watch, and slip away. She narrowed her eyes, but quickly realised he was just going to class when he went into the locker room. She glanced at her watch, and did a double take when she noticed the time.

"ACK!" She shrieked, a little too loudly. Several people whipped their heads around to look at Marinette in alarm, causing her to grimace at her own tone. "Class starts in 5 minutes," She whispered, a lot quieter that time.

Nino practically leapt into the air, and everyone scrambled to pick their books and computers up from the stairs. They all turned and ran to their respective classes, but just before Marinette picked up her last book, she spotted Lila making her way towards her. Marinette groaned out loud, which no one heard since they were all already far away.

"Marinette!" Lila exclaimed in a falsely sweet voice. "I hope you enjoyed your summer!"
"Cut the crap, Lila," Marinette practically growled through gritted teeth. "What do you want?"

"No need to be worried, Marinette. I just want to talk, that's all," She replied back with a wicked grin.

Lila was clearly trying to be intimidating, but Marinette didn't care anymore. All Lila did was lie, and lie, and lie some more. She couldn't actually hurt Marinette physically, only her reputation. Which apparently, could be fixed quite quickly, given how many times Lila had pulled it off.

Marinette rolled her eyes dramatically, and Lila narrowed hers.

Lila briefly looked around to make sure there wasn't anyone watching, and sure enough, the foyer des étudiants was mostly empty. She approached Marinette, getting so close that she almost had to take a few steps back. But she was done letting Lila walk all over her, so she stood her ground.

Lila scowled at her, which looked kind of menacing, but also gave Marinette the urge to laugh. Lila was clearly trying to look scary, but it honestly seemed silly. It didn't help that she was much shorter than herself.

"Marinette," Lila sneered, her falsely sweet voice returning, before it quickly shifted back to the more menacing tone she saved just for Marinette.

"You better watch your back this year, and stay away from Adrien. Otherwise, you may not be so well surrounded as you are now, in the future."

"What are you talking about?" Marinette asked in annoyance, flinching at the mention of Adrien. It was like people thought he was her whole personality, which... May have been true in the 8th grade. But not really anymore.

Sure, she liked Adrien. It just wasn't... Obsession, I guess would have been the word. Stalkerish, even.

"Why do you think I've been cozying up to your friend Alya?" Lila asked, taking another step into Marinette's personal bubble. "It's astonishingly easy to manipulate your little friends, and twist them around my finger," Lila sighed nonchalantly. "If I wanted to, I could turn everyone you hold close against yo-"

"Who are you?" an annoyingly familiar voice asked, his sharp tone cutting through the tense air.

Both Lila and Marinette whipped their heads around, and their eyes locked on Felix. Marinette sighed in annoyance, although she was secretly grateful he was there. Lila could be extremely manipulative, and she hoped he wouldn't fall for it.'

Of all the people she knew, Felix was definitely one of the smartest, even though he pretended to be socially awkward. He was definitely an introvert, but liking to interact with people and knowing how are two very different things.

Felix raised an eyebrow, and Lila's facial expression and malicious tone immediately shifted back to her usual, sickeningly sweet, false voice. "Adrien? How are you! You changed your hair."

Lila looped the arm she was using to grab Marinette's arm around her shoulders, as if they were old friends. Marinette quickly lifted the arm off her, taking a few steps sideways toward Felix.

"My name is Felix. Marinette, let's go. We're going to be late," Felix said monotonically, completely dismissing Lila. He offered Marinette his hand. Lila's expression quickly shifted to one of outrage.

Marinette fought the urge to roll her eyes at her, but she took his hand with a smirk at Lila, even though she would have much rather told him to go to hell.

Felix practically dragged her up the stairs, grasping her hand firmly, but carefully. Marinette turned briefly to see Lila scowling at the two of them. Marinette turned, and offered a sarcastic smile, and raised her hand mockingly. "Bye!"

She whipped her head back around before she saw Lila's reaction, and disappeared around the corner with Felix.

"She's quite..." Felix remarked once they were out of earshot. His tone was flat, but the corner of his mouth twitched upward as he glanced down at her.

"Yeah."

They walked in silence for a few moments, before Marinette couldn't take it anymore.

"I could've handled Lila myself, you know," she huffed. He just rolled his eyes

"Sure," he shrugged indifferently. "That's not why I was there anyway. I just find people like her... Entertaining, to say the least," the corners of his mouth turned up just the slightest, before he managed to iron out his expression.

"Sure," she imitated with a smirk. It was Felix's turn to roll his eyes.

Marinette glanced down at their still intertwined hands, with heat rising to her cheeks. Felix made no move to let go, so she dropped his hand herself. For whatever reason, she missed the contact when it was lost.

Felix was one of the most insufferable people she'd met, but if this was going to be how he'd act around her, she could tolerate him.

"That Lila girl... I assume you're acquainted with her?" Felix eventually asked, turning back to look at Marinette.

"Unfortunately. She's been trying to make my life a living hell since the 8th grade, but no one seems to believe me," she huffed.

To Marinette's surprise, Felix scoffed. "How could they blindly believe someone who's so fake? Even her hair isn't real."

Marinette gaped at Felix. "Her hair isn't real," she repeated in confusion.

"It's obviously synthetic. She needs to invest in better wigs."

Marinette blinked a couple times, then let out a laugh. She couldn't tell if he was being serious, but it was funny either way.

"She's just a fake person. I don't think she even has morals," Marinette eventually added as they neared the end of the hall.

"Yes, I also noticed that pretty quickly," he quirked the corner of his lip as they got to a fork in the hall.

Marinette made her way in the opposite direction of Felix, towards her first period class. She was about 10 minutes late already, so she prayed that her teacher would be understanding. It was the first day, afterall.

Marinette's thoughts drifted back to Felix as she walked up to her classroom door, and knocked.

He was still mostly insufferable, but... Maybe he wouldn't be as bad as she had originally thought.

Chapter Text

Marinette was bored. Her new math teacher, Mr. Klein, droned on, and on, about simple math topics that the whole class clearly understood. He got stuck on long multiplication and never unstuck. It was helpful for the first 10 minutes, as a quick refresher at the beginning of the year. But after a while, it just became agonizingly boring and loooong. To her surprise, she found herself wishing that he would just give them a worksheet so they could at least chat, and do something with their hands. Instead, she watched him jot down a new problem in black dry-erase ink for the umpteenth time.

She glanced over at the clock (which she had been paying more attention to than the lesson) and sighed in relief when she saw they only had 10 minutes left of torture. The day already felt like it had lasted forever, and it was only first period.

She allowed her mind and eyes to wander, as she looked around at her peers. Most of her class also looked sufficiently tortured. All around her, she heard feet tapping, pens clicking, and-

BOOM!

Everyone broke out of their respective trances and looked around in alarm.

BANG!

A few of her classmates shrieked or yelped in terror. Marinette scrambled to her feet, trying to see out the window. She couldn't get a good view, so she scurried to the window with the rest of the class, and went on her tiptoes in an attempt to see outside from behind a large group of students. She squinted, and saw the outline rather plump man with an owl mask, jumping around buildings and making loud noises. He waved his cape dramatically and shouted loudly for Ladybug and Chat Noir to stop being cowards, and show themselves to prove who the best hero really was. He was generally just making a ruckus and scaring people. He wasn't exactly causing much harm to the city, but he definitely was to her ears.

She gritted her teeth in annoyance and partial relief since she could finally get out of class, and quickly made her way to the door. She broke into a sprint, trying to slip away before anyone caught her. Before she got too far, Alya grabbed her hand, almost causing Marinette to fall flat on her face.

"Where are you going, girl?" she asked in confusion and slight concern. Marinette pressed her lips together, going through the excuses she had rehearsed in her head.

"I, uhm- I'm going to see if Juleka and Adrien are okay! They're only a few classes over."

"I'll come with you!"

"No! I mean-"

"Come onnn, I'm never with you during akuma attacks. Don't you wanna see the action with your favourite reporter?" she winked. "You always end up turned into one of their minions or something."

A few of her classmates screamed as the Dark Owl shot some kind of explosive; too close to the school for comfort.

Marinette flinched at the sudden sound, and began to tap her foot nervously. She had to get out there, but first, she had to get past Alya.

She went through the options in her head. Alya wouldn't buy the classic bathroom excuse, it would be timed too perfectly. She could say she felt faint, sick? It would be believable because of the stress that an akuma creates, but she wasn't sure Alya would buy that either.

She sighed in exasperation. "How about I check up on Juleka and Adrien, while you check up on... Felix?" she asked, a hopeful look in her eye.

"You want to know if Felix is okay?" Alya snorted. Marinette scowled at her.

"It's so you know he's okay, not me."

"Okaaay, fine."

BANG! SCREAM!

"GREAT! BYE-"

Alya grabbed her hand again, almost causing Marinette to crash onto the floor for the second time. "I'll leave you alone on one condition," she told Marinette with a gleam in her eye. Marinette slumped. Something about her expression made her grimace because she knew that whatever Alya wanted wasn't going to be something particularly fun... For Marinette, at least.

Boom!

The sound was getting farther away. She didn't have much time until the villain was out of sight, and who knows what kind of damage they'd be able to do if they got fair enough. Probably not much, but she didn't want to give him time to set any traps or come up with some kind of elaborate plan.

"Fine. What is it?" She asked begrudgingly, crossing her arms and tapping her foot even more furiously. She nervously glanced out the window, the villain now simply a black speck in the distance.

"You have to be the one to check up on Felix."

"You're joking," Marinette's voice dropped to a whisper, in disbelief that Alya would ask her to do that. She should have seen it coming, it was a very Alya thing to do.

Yell!

"Nope! Do you want to do... Whatever you're running off to do, or what?"

Marinette froze and then quickly clutched her head. "Ow, my head. I'm feeling really faint! Maybe I should go to the nurse's office or-"

"You're not getting out of this."

Marinette flinched and paused for a second. If Alya wanted her to talk to Felix, she was definitely going to follow her to the class or ask him about it later. She had already agreed, there was no going back now.

But that was a problem for future Marinette. Current Marinette had to go fight. "Fine."

Alya shot her a wicked grin before letting go of Marinette, and watching her bolt to the door. It shrunk rather quickly, however, when she got to the hallway, looked both ways, and booked it in the opposite direction of Felix's classroom.

* * *

Marinette dashed down the stairs at full speed and nearly slammed into a wall. She skidded to a brief stop, exhaling in relief, before sprinting to the girls' washroom. However, she stopped to round a corner and ended up spotting Adrien and Felix. Not quite knowing what she was doing, she backtracked a few steps and went back behind the wall. She squished herself against it, in an effort not to be seen

"Felix, where are you going? It would be better to head back to the mansion. It's not safe here," Adrien insisted, reaching for his cousin with a worried expression.

"I, uh, really have to grab something from my locker before we go," Felix told him nervously, looking around. Marinette was semi-shocked at his reaction. It was the first time she had seen him like that.

Bang.

"Whatever it is can't be more important than your life. Your mother would kill me if I let you get hurt," Adrien informed him with a slight, sideways smile.

Felix offered a small smile to Adrien reluctantly. "You'd miss me if I was gone, we both know this isn't about my mother," he informed him teasingly, side-stepping towards the locker room casually. He was almost acting... Nice? It must have been because he was trying to get away from Adrien.

Adrien rolled his eyes slightly, clearly noticing Felix's attempt to get away. He sighed but nodded reluctantly. Marinette couldn't help but smile at his exasperation. Their interaction was coincidentally, very similar to her and Alya's.

Marinette quickly slipped into the girls' washroom after watching their slightly confusing conversation, suddenly remembering why she was there, almost yelping out loud when she realised that she had wasted precious time. She carefully pushed open all the stall doors to make sure she was alone before transforming.

"What do you think that was all about?" she asked Tikki carefully, opening her purse and allowing the tiny bug-like creature to pop her head out.

"I'm not sure, Marinette, but we should talk about it later. We have work to do!" Tikki told her scoldingly in her squeaky voice.

"You're right Tikki, what am I thinking? Spots on!"

* * *

"Bye, bye little butterfly!"

Ladybug stood beside her partner on the rooftop of city hall, watching her magic ladybugs fly around in streaks of red across the sky and city, repairing the damage that Dark Owl and Chat Noir's cataclysm caused during the battle.

A small smile crept onto her features when everything had been repaired. Even though it was one of her superpowers to fix everything after a battle, she was always terrified that it wouldn't work properly, or that they would miss something. It haunted her. She couldn't bear to see anyone, or anything hurt because of her.

She gulped at the thought of it but pushed it out of her head. That would never happen. Not if she had a say about it.

Chat Noir held out his fist, and Ladybug gave him their usual fist bump with a soft smile.

"Pound it!"

"Are you alright, m'lady?" he asked in concern, probably noticing how far away she looked.

"I'm fine, Kitty. Just tired, that's all," she replied simply. It wasn't a lie, she was exhausted. She hadn't gotten enough sleep the previous night, she had become emotionally exhausted that morning, physically exhausted from the fight, and she felt even more exhausted at the thought of going back to school for the rest of the day. School was already feeling like torture again, and it was only her first day back.

Chat Noir looked at her with an eyebrow raised, his head tilting slightly, reminding her vaguely of her and Felix's interaction that morning. The resemblance hit Ladybug like a truck, the impact winding her slightly. She shook the idea from her head; they were nothing alike

On another note, Chat definitely knew she was upset about something; he knew her too well.

"M'lady, I've known you for long enough to know when something's bothering you," and there it is. "I don't want to pressure you, but whatever it is, I mean if you need to talk, I'm always here," he told her with a caring smile. Ladybug tried to plaster a carefree smile across her lips at his words.

"Thanks, Chatton, it means a lot. But I really am fine, just... Some stress in my personal life, I guess," She studied her gloved hands as she clasped them together and fidgeted with her fingers. It wasn't a complete lie. She had more than a few things on her mind from school, so hopefully, it would sound sincere enough for him.

Chat's eyes narrowed slightly, darting to her earrings. His eyebrows scrunched together, then he sighed in mild exasperation, before taking her gloved hand in his and planting a soft kiss on her knuckles. Ladybug pulled her hand away quickly and rolled her eyes.

"Always a charmer, aren't you?" she crossed her arms and suppressed a smile, as she looked anywhere but at Chat Noir to avoid eye contact.

"You bet, m'lady," he teased with a bow.

Ladybug shook her head and face palmed, although she had a genuine smile on her face. Chat Noir grinned in triumph.

"If you're alright, I've gotta go. I have somewhere to be. Cat you later!" Chat Noir exclaimed with a wink, before vaulting over the rooftops, and away.

Ladybug sighed, knowing it meant that she would have to head back too. Regretfully, she took one last look at the city landscape and begrudgingly swung her yoyo, and zipped away.

* * *

"Spots off!" a voice called from inside the girls' washroom. Felix looked up from his work and towards the bathroom. He was sure his confusion was etched across his face at the sudden outburst. He didn't know what it meant, but it was quite an odd thing to shout? Something about it sounded extremely familiar, so Felix tucked it into the back of his head. He didn't want to forget it, but it wasn't something he needed to concern himself with at the moment.

Felix averted his eyes from the washroom entrance, focusing his eyes back on his homework. It was preposterous that they would assign anything on the first day, but he wanted to finish it as swiftly as he could. He'd found a bench near the locker room that he'd gone into earlier, and since Adrien was gone, he planned to pretend he was there the whole time.

He assumed that Adrien left to hide eventually. Felix would have been shocked if he waited for him until after the attack. Ladybug was amazing as always during the battle, coming up with crazy plans as usual with her Lucky Charm. Her expression when it was over still bothered him, though. He hated to see her upset, especially when she wouldn't tell him why.

He let his mind eventually drift back to his homework. It was criminal of his teacher to assign it to the class, especially so early in the school year.

It was technically about time for him to move to his next class, speaking of which, but he doubted anyone would think twice about his absence right after an akuma attack. For all they knew, he was caught up in the commotion and temporarily unable to be present.

It had been a particularly draining morning for him. He hated pretending to like all of Adrien's pushover friends, and especially dumbing his vocabulary down so they'd understand. They weren't terrible people, but it took a lot out of him not to cringe at himself during his 'apology'. He had done what he had to do to avoid too many questions and odd looks, but he most definitely didn't want to repeat the awkward experience.

Marinette especially was confusing for him. She was one of, if not the only one of Adrien's friends who wasn't completely stupid. He knew that she didn't buy his apology, and he honestly didn't care. It was refreshing to have someone around who had some sort of logic; who he could at least act mostly like his normal self around. She still annoyed him to his grave, but he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing that since he was sure she was going to strive to do exactly that. It was almost as if he- Nope. Nevermind.

She was definitely interested in his pushover cousin. Half the girls in Paris were infatuated with him. Besides, his heart remained with Ladybug. He hoped she would come around eventually, but he started to doubt it. Maybe it really was time to move on? Marinette would serve as a satisfactory distraction, even if it never went anywhere.

"Hey, Felix."

His train of thought came to a screeching halt when he heard the very voice of the girl he was thinking about sounded in front of him. He willed himself to keep a straight face, and he locked his gaze onto his work, doing his best to look slightly focused, at least.

"Marinette. Is the akuma attack over?" he asked, doing his best to sound disinterested, twirling his pencil between his fingers.

"Uh- I'm not sure," she replied, a little too quickly. Felix looked up at her in confusion. "I- Um- I've been in the bathroom! I wasn't feeling well."

Felix raised his eyebrow and leaned back slightly in his chair. She was acting weird. Weirder than usual, which was an accomplishment unto itself. Why was she so nervous all of a sudden? It could be simply from the threat of an akuma, but he wasn't so sure.

He decided not to pry; for now. To simply observe, and wait for more information. After a moment's pause, he nodded curtly before turning his head down, back to his work.

To his surprise, Marinette slumped down in the seat across from him, resting her head on her arms. He stared at her for a moment in confusion, before realising himself and turning back to his work.

They sat there for a few moments, the only sound breaking the silence being the steady scratch of his pencil against the paper.

Eventually, his curiosity got the better of him, as it so often did.

"Marinette, what are you doing?" she asked her with an eyebrow raised.

"Zoning out," Marinette didn't move.

Felix was taken aback for a moment at her bluntness but quickly recovered. "May I ask why?"

"No you may not," she told him sleepily, but firmly. She yawned, and Felix did his best not to laugh.

"Okay then," he said, still holding back a smile. He went back to his assignment, doing his best to ignore her antics. He wasn't sure what she was up to, but he was sure it wasn't anything good. Maybe he was just paranoid. That was the most likely answer.

"What are you up to?" Marinette asked him, propping her head on her hands, rather than her arms, looking down at the mess of papers on the table.

"Homework," it was Felix's turn to be dry now.

"On the first day!?" She asked in alarm, snapping her head up to look into his eyes. Her bluebell eyes seemed to sparkle in the fluorescent lights somehow. He was sure his own looked ghostly, rather than dreamy.

"Unfortunately," he replied indifferently, leaning towards her subconsciously, not breaking eye contact.

"Maybe I could help? What subject is it," Felix could tell that Marinette asked him without thinking, as she winced at herself. He supposed that maybe it was just automatic for her to offer help to others. She was generally a helpful person, he figured.

"I doubt it. It would most likely be too complex," Felix told her, in an effort to save her the trouble. It's what he would have wanted her to do for him, after all. It would be rude of him to obligate her to such a task. He was fine working on his own.

"Too complex?" Marinette repeated with a snort, although she had a semi-outraged expression painted across her features. He hadn't meant to upset her, but what's done is done.

"If you don't mind, I'm trying to get some work done," Felix informed her, doing his best not to flinch at his own sharp tone. He focused his eyes on his work, even though she wasn't paying attention to it. Did his EQ just not meet a satisfactory level? Why did he always push people away like this? He sighed at the scowl he saw Marinette wearing in his periphery. He'd already dug himself a grave; why not dig it deeper?

"I do mind, actually," she told him, rolling her eyes dramatically. "But unluckily for you, period two started five minutes ago." Felix's eyes snapped back to Marinette in alarm, just in time to see her walking, no, strutting, away and up the stairs.

He muttered a curse under his breath for not watching the time more carefully, and swiftly packed his homework away into his bag. Once he was finished, he swung his backpack over his shoulder and hurried up the stairs after Marinette.

When he got to the chipped wooden door, he took a moment to catch his breath and collect himself. He smoothed down his hair, adjusted his tie, and took a deep breath before he breezily pushed the door open.

Chapter Text

Marinette glanced at the weathered classroom door from the corner of her eye, internally wincing at the sight of Felix. She watched him scan the room and take in his surroundings, before his eyes locked on hers.

He had that calculated look in his eyes that never seemed to go away. It made her shiver, giving her the feeling that he was analyzing everything she did—which he probably was doing.

Even so, they were still strikingly gorgeous, even though Marinette tried her absolute best to ignore that horrifying fact. They were a deep emerald green, and just screamed intelligent.

Marinette nearly hit herself—she was spending too much time thinking about his eyes. They were eyes. She needed to get it together, she was being ridiculous. She was probably just acting this way because he looked like Adrien.

She narrowed her eyes at him, hoping her expression said something along the lines of "Don't even think about coming over here." She didn't want to deal with him again so soon.

To her dismay, Felix shrugged and approached her anyway. She groaned, causing the girl beside her to look over and raise an eyebrow.

Getting the complete wrong impression, the girl smirked and made room for Felix to stand beside Marinette.

Marinette glared daggers at Felix and the nameless girl, before returning her attention to the teacher. She could have sworn she saw him return her sneer with an amused smile, which infuriated her even further.

She stared intensely at the back wall of the class, very deliberately trying to avoid making direct eye-contact with Felix again.

The students had all been told to stand against the front wall of the classroom. Why? Marinette didn't know. A lot of the teachers in her school were weird.

Almost no one was talking, which made the whole thing so much worse. Some tried awkwardly to lean against the wall in an attempt to look less out of place, though the whiteboard made it annoyingly difficult.

Thankfully, Marinette didn't have to suffer for much longer. A tall blonde woman with sharp features briskly made her way into the class, and to her desk at the front.

"Now that everyone's here, we can finally finalize the seating plan. I hope no one ran into any problems during the akuma attack, they can be quite stressful," Mrs. Clark told them all curtly, without a pang of sympathy in her tone. Were all her teachers going to be this... Cold?

Mrs. Clark bent over to look down at her computer with her back towards the class. Some guy whistled, but quietly enough that the teacher wouldn't hear. Marinette saw Felix give the guy a pointed glare from the corner of her eye, with a disgusted look on his face.

Marinette exhaled in relief at the thought of a seating plan. It was easier this way. She was sure that Felix would've sat next to her if it wasn't arranged seating, and she had no idea how long they'd have to stay in the same seats. Probably all semester, unless there were any problems.

"Jenny Yvon, you can take a seat right over there, by my desk," the teacher told a girl towards the end of the line. Jenny's shoulders slumped, but she reluctantly made her way to the very front row.

Besides the sound of Jenny's footsteps, the class was so quiet Marinette could hear some guy chewing gum four people to her left.

"Jade Walter, take a seat beside her please," the green-haired girl groaned in annoyance, also slumping a bit, but the two offered each other small smiles, before returning their attention to the teacher.

"John Vasseur? Take a seat by the desk to their right."

Marinette noticed the teacher was only naming letters towards the end of the alphabet, by the sound of it. From Z-A... Which would mean she would probably be near Felix.

There was a good chance there would be someone between them, since Marinette's last name started with D and his started with G, but there was, unfortunately, a daunting possibility of the former.

Felix seemed to have come to the same conclusion Marinette did, based on the expression on his face. He was stiff like usual, but he had an odd glint in his eye that she was having trouble deciphering.

Malice? Enjoyment? Anger? It was hard to tell.

Why did he always feel the need to act so unbothered? It was annoying, obviously fake, and a wasteful use of emotional battery.

The teacher went all the way up the list, until she finally hit D. "Marinette Dupain-Cheng? Take a seat in the back row, in Mrs. Yvon's line of desks. Right up against the wall, please."

Marinette wove her way through the rows of double desks, before taking the seat closest to the brick wall in the corner, the white paint peeling slightly to reveal a greyish material underneath.

She held her breath as the teacher looked back down at her computer screen. Marinette felt hotter than usual, and had the sudden urge to remove her blazer. She cursed herself for not wearing her usual t-shirt, and going with a tank top instead. She wasn't in the mood to get dress coded on the first day.

Just then, the teacher called a guy named Jason Hellen. She mentally went over the alphabet, making sure she wasn't going crazy. Sure enough, G definitely went before H. So why hadn't he been seated?

She looked back to Felix, who had a confused expression painted across his features. It only lasted a split second, however. She watched as he let his face fall flat, before raising his hand.

"Yes, Mr..?"

"Graham de Vanily, Mrs,"

Mrs. Clark nodded her head before Felix asked his question. "Yes, you should have been called already," she looked down to her screen once again, scrolling through the names. "You're not on my list. I haven't seen you here before, so I assume you're newly enrolled?" she inquired, glancing up from her laptop screen at Felix for a moment.

Without waiting for an answer, she continued speaking. "Take a seat next to Ms. Dupain-Cheng in the back, please."

Felix nodded and strode over to where Marinette was sitting. She quickly busied herself with her bag, pretending to be looking for something. He wordlessly sat next to her, focusing his full attention on Mrs. Clark.

Mrs. Clark resumed going through her list of names until everyone had been seated. When she finished, she turned on the projector with one end of a meter-long ruler.

"Before any of you ask, this seating plan will be in place for the entirety of the semester, unless I deem it necessary for a switch. So please, don't ask me."

Marinette raised her hand, and the teacher addressed her. "No, please don't send me an email about it. My inbox is full as it is," Marinette's shoulders slumped, but she didn't say anything further.

The thought of having to sit next to Felix all semester sounded about as appealing to Marinette as, well, having to have any interaction at all with him. Agonizing.

"As you may or may not remember, my name is Mrs. Clark. I'd like you all to turn your attention to this PowerPoint I've prepared to give you an overview of this course. This semester, half of your final mark will be small assignments, and handouts that are to be completely in class. A quarter will..."

Marinette twirled her pencil between her fingers, tapping her foot to a soundless beat. Once again, her mind wandered to far away places.

She didn't want to hear yet another teacher dump a bunch of useless information on her. Either teach them something useful or let them go home? What's the point of even being here if no important information is being given?

"... This is the most advanced class of your grade, I expect blah blah blah..."

Marinette really wanted to talk to Tikki again and ask for her thoughts about, well... Everything.

Her brain was already going on overload from the day, and she really needed Tikki's help to unravel everything, and hear things from someone else's perspective.

She realized she had stopped twirling her pencil and clenched her fists, so she quickly began spinning it again in an attempt to distract herself.

"... Blah blah group project worth 20 percent of your overall grade in this class..."

Marinette allowed her thoughts to wander to her double life. This year, class work was going to ramp up a lot. She was going to have a much harder time keeping up with her homework, and saving the city.

Hawk Moth's attacks were beginning to happen much more frequently. When she first became Ladybug, they only really happened around once a week.

But more recently, there had been an attack nearly every second day. Hawk Moth was getting desperate.

"... I will be assigning your partners for the project, I don't want any of you squandering class time with your friends..."

She wondered what Chat thought. She hadn't brought up the higher volume of attacks, but she was sure he noticed. He may have been an idiot, but he wasn't stupid—which was slightly confusing to wrap your head around.

"... You'll be partnered up with whoever your desk mate is. Any questions?"
Marinette's head shot up at her teacher's words. Had she heard that right?

To verify, she looked over at Felix from the corner of her eye, but he looked indifferent as per usual. He sat with his arms crossed, and poster rigid.

She tried to focus back on the teacher, figuring that she'd be able to guess what she was talking about with more context.

Mrs. Clark continued on about the project, and Marinette was able to gather that they could choose any literary figure, and that they had to write up a paper and a presentation about them.

It didn't sound too bad, but the project wasn't the problem. It was Felix.

She didn't doubt that he'd pull his own weight, but the thought of working on such a big project with him made her wince. She'd finally gotten free of Chloe, but now she had a whole other problem on her hands. He may not seem to be attacking her, but he did seem to be targeting her. For what? She didn't know.

Why couldn't her life ever be simple? She was sick of juggling school work, Chloe, Lila, saving Paris multiple times a week, and now Felix.

She couldn't help but wonder what her life would be like if she'd never gotten her miraculous.

She wouldn't give her miraculous up for anything, but she knew that her life would be a lot easier if she wasn't Ladybug.

Marinette briefly shook her head, deciding not to let herself jump on that train of thought.

There was nothing she could do to go back now, after all.

***

Felix wasn't sure what he thought about being partnered up with Marinette.

He didn't know much about her yet, but she seemed competent enough. He supposed that he would find out, whether he wanted to or not.

He wasn't sure how they would work together. He was already on thin ice, but he was sure that Marinette hated him now, especially after his rude behaviour after the akuma attack. He was also sure that she didn't appreciate his earlier comments about her rather embarrassing confession to his cousin, who thanks to him, never heard it. Honestly, she should be thanking him for deleting those videos. It was pathetic.

On another note, he found it increasingly difficult to focus on the lesson, which was very out of character for him. He normally enjoyed literature classes, but this teacher's voice was extraordinarily monotone.

He wondered if she'd ever experienced a positive emotion. He dearly missed his private school class, where the subject matter was actually somewhat engaging, even though the institution was quite strict, and the other students were stuck-up.

Despite his best efforts to keep his eyes trained on the teachers' presentation, he found himself glancing over at Marinette. She looked bothered.

He told himself it was probably because she had to be partnered with him for a major project—even though most people would love that opportunity—but he had a feeling that there was something else on her mind.

He was sure that asking her about it would overstep her boundaries, so he refocused his gaze on the front. It was better not to pry.

"We still have around 30 minutes of time together, so I suggest you use that time to get acquainted with your partner, and discuss topics for your project," the teacher finished, making her way back to her desk.

Felix heard Marinette sigh at their teacher's words, then turn to face him.

"I don't think we need to reintroduce ourselves."

"I suppose not. Do you have any ideas for a topic?" Felix asked in return.

"Not really."

Felix couldn't help but exhale sharply. Of course she wouldn't have any ideas yet, he had barely given her five seconds to think.

"Okay, fine. We could do it on someone like Shakespeare. It wouldn't be hard to find info about him, and it could be cool to analyze some of his work," Marinette suggested dully.

"That could work, but it feels very... Basic."
"Honestly, I agree. It was just the first name that came to mind."

Felix exhaled, blowing a piece of hair that had fallen out of place.

Marinette sat for a moment in thought before speaking up again.

"What about Victor Hugo?"

Felix considered it for a moment, racking his brain for anything he knew about the 19th century writer. He wrote Les Misérable, and was very much a believer in second chances to vigilantes and criminals, according to many of his works.

"Hugo? Of course. The idealist."

"He wasn't just an idealist, he really understood people, and their ability to change."

"Exactly. He believed that people could change. That's what I have trouble with."

***

Marinette narrowed her eyes at him. Was he actually serious? This was such a dumb thing to argue about. Maybe people couldn't literally change, but no one was just evil. There was always a reason behind the madness. Some people were just... Misguided.

"What, would you rather write about someone with a 'death to all who oppose me!' mindset?"

Felix scoffed. "I was actually going to suggest Machiavelli."

Marinette deadpanned. "You're kidding." Machiavelli was one of the darkest writers she'd ever read about from the past.

"Why not? It's actually realistic. If Hugo believed half the stuff he wrote about could happen, he must have been living in a fantasy world."

"So you think strength is manipulation? Is that not what The Prince is about?" Marinette asked, her voice raising as she crossed her arms.

"I believe that manipulation is survival in certain situations."

"Manipulating people is wrong, Felix."

"It's not if it keeps them alive."

"We're teenagers talking about a school project, this isn't a life or death situation."

"That doesn't change the logic."

Marinette was silent for a long moment after that, unsure of what to say. He was right to an extent, but she couldn't imagine a situation Felix would be in where he'd have to apply that logic.

As Ladybug, she had to lie, and to an extent manipulate the people she cared about to keep them safe. If Hawk Moth ever found out that they knew her identity, they'd never have a moment of peace. As much as she didn't want to admit it, he made a good point.

"... I guess you're right. But I still don't like his values."

"You don't have to agree with him," Felix assured her. "I just sympathize with some of his idealisms."

"I'm not going to spend an entire semester researching him though."

"I can understand that. How about we both do our own research and pitch ideas then?"

Marinette was slightly shocked that Felix backed down so easily. She did like his idea of doing their own research though, that way they wouldn't spend time pointlessly bickering.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

A good 25 minutes passed by in silence while they each looked into different literary figures. Marinette would have liked to say it was liberating to avoid talking to Felix anymore than strictly necessary, but it felt extremely uncomfortable. In fact, the air between them felt charged. Probably just her imagination, though.

Marinette eventually decided to break the silence. It was impossible to focus while Felix was just... Breathing too loud? She didn't even know.

"You found anyone yet?"

Felix stayed silent for a moment longer than necessary.

"None that you would find satisfactory," he quipped with a smirk, keeping his eyes trained on his laptop.

Marinette rolled her eyes dramatically, though that was exactly the kind of response she'd expect to hear from him.

"Not that you asked, but I found a few," Marinette replied coolly, angling her computer towards him so he could read her screen. Marinette watched his eyes as he scanned the list of authors and info methodically. She must have been staring a little too intensely, because his eyes flicked up to meet hers, one corner of his lips curling up into a half smirk.

Marinette ground her teeth together as she averted her gaze back to the screen. It was like he actively tried to make every interaction uncomfortable or irritating.

"You can pick whichever you'd like. I don't care which one we do."

"Then why- Are you serious? Could you not have said that 30 minutes ago?" Marinette groaned.

"Perhaps, but this is much more entertaining," Felix replied smoothly, smirking as he caught Marinette visibly fuming in his periphery.

"Whatever."

Fortunately, the bell rang not long after, signaling their lunch break. Marinette would have liked to run out of that stuffy classroom as fast as possible, but she was unluckily between the wall and Felix—who seemed to be packing up in slow motion.

"Excuse me," she said dryly, hoping he'd speed up. Felix raised his eyebrows with that annoying smirk, but he still moved out of the way, giving Marinette room to get around him.

She practically sprinted to the door. Only when she had gotten to the end of the hall did she release the breath she didn't realise she was holding. She was dreading having to work on the project again with Felix, but it was clearly going to be a big topic in that class. She just hoped they could get it done quickly, so she could peacefully avoid him.

Unfortunately, either way, avoidance wasn't going to work.

Chapter Text

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Marinette fought the urge to hurl her phone across the room at the sound of her shrill alarm. However, against her better judgement, she fumbled around, and pressed the stop button. 

Begrudgingly, she slipped out of bed and onto the ladder—she wasn’t in the mood to restart her unfortunate habit of showing up late to school every single day.

It was only the second day, and Marinette already felt like she was just going through the motions. She brushed her teeth, changed, did her makeup, and fixed her hair. She decided to try a half up, half down style with a white claw clip today—a significant improvement from her pigtails in her opinion.

Remembering the stuffy, hot classrooms from yesterday, she grabbed a t-shirt instead of a tank top, and decided to leave her blazer behind. 

As she walked sleepily to the kitchen, her mother did a double take at the sight of her.

“Marinette, you’re up early!” she exclaimed, leaning against the kitchen counter.

“I am?” she asked in return, slowly tilting her head towards the time displayed on their microwave. It was 7:45 and school started at 8:15.

“Mama, there’s 15 minutes until I have to be at school, this isn’t early.”

“Well, compared to your usual wakeup time, it’s a miracle. Usually I’m wondering if you’re still alive up there by this time!”

Marinette sighed as she slumped onto a stool by their sleek counter. She may have managed to get up on time, but she’d had a restless sleep. 

Alya hadn’t directly confronted her about the akuma attack the previous day, but she was sure it was only because they were with a group of other people for pretty much the rest of the school day. Not to mention Felix—her main problem at the moment. 

She hadn’t really talked to him either after second period, but he was obviously making his way into her group of friends, and she wasn’t going to stand for it.

Even though they hadn’t exactly talked, she’d made eye contact with him several times throughout the day, his eyes seeming to say things rather than his voice—which was extremely irritating. Why did he seem to be fixated on her? She was surprised he wasn’t trying to manipulate her like the rest of her friends, at least that she could tell.

She didn’t have time to dwell on it, though, because she had to get to school. She still had 10 minutes until the warning bell, which gave her more than enough time to get there, given that she lived almost directly next to the school. 

She walked to school in a kind of daze, still physically and emotionally exhausted from the previous day. When she pushed the school doors open, she was surprised to see that the foyer was nearly empty. 

She checked the time on her phone, and realised that there were still 20 minutes until people really had to be there and in class. 

She decided to just take a seat on the staircase where she usually met her friends in the morning, and doom scroll or something while she waited. However, before she could even unlock her phone, a familiar voice called out to her. 

“Hey Marinette!” she heard Adrien exclaim. He was smiling warmly at her, looking perfect as always. “You’re early today, usually I don’t get to see you until lunch.”

“Hi Adrien, yeah, I was surprised too. I changed my alarm to something a lot louder than what I was using last year, and I guess it’s working.”

“That’s good,” Adrien replied warmly, taking a seat next to her on the stairs. Marinette struggled to come up with something to say. She didn’t exactly have a way with words when it came to Adrien. She didn’t stumble all over herself anymore, but she couldn’t really have a natural conversation with him unless they were in a group.

“What class do you have first again?” she asked eventually.

“Chemistry—it’s pretty interesting so far. My teacher seems… Strict, though.”

“All of mine are that way too this year, I don’t know what’s up with that! It’s like they purposely hired the rudest people possible.”

“I don’t know if rude’s the right word, but they seem like—actually yeah, rude.”

Marinette stifled a giggle as a teacher walked by just a second too late to hear their conversation. It was nice to be able to just have a friendly conversation with him.

However, she didn’t feel that way for long, because an awkward silence fell over them once again, that even Adrien didn’t seem to be immune to. She hadn’t really realised until just then that almost every single time they’d had a conversation, it had been with their other friends. She didn’t know how to talk to him one on one. It didn’t feel… Natural, exactly.

With her other friends, she was almost always able to just start talking about something random or mundane, and the conversation would shift to something much more engaging in just a couple of minutes. With Adrien, it felt like she was conversing with a wall, even though he was technically participating in the conversation. Hell, it was easier to talk to Felix than Adrien. However, she regretted even thinking those words a moment later.

“Adrien, Marinette.”

Marinette internally winced at the sound of Felix’s voice, but forced herself to turn to face him. It would have probably been better to sit in awkward silence than engage with this guy. His voice was perfectly smooth, and kind of empty, compared to Adrien’s warmth. His blonde hair was meticulously styled as always, but he seemed to be dressed much more casually than usual, in contrast to his almost regal demeanor. Jeans and a blouse were an improvement from his usual dress pants and tie, on a casual fashion front anyway.

“Hey Felix! I’m glad you decided to come back,” Adrien exclaimed, grinning at his cousin.

Marinette, however, was a bit confused about Adrien’s choice of words. Why wouldn’t Felix be coming back to school? Maybe he really was too much of a snob to possibly attend a public school.

“I simply couldn’t resist spending more time here with you and your… friends,” Felix replied smoothly, with an odd emphasis on the word ‘friends’ that didn’t quite sit right with Marinette. It was very possible that Felix just wanted to be close to Adrien, but she was sure he’d like to be as far away from their group of friends as possible.

Marinette must have been too obviously glaring at Felix, because Adrien looked back and forth between her and Felix, and sighed outwardly.

“I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but I can tell there’s something wrong. Do either of you wanna talk about it?” he asked them with a frown.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Marinette stated flatly, slightly turning her back towards Felix, who had decided to stay silent rather than explain.

***

Felix knew that he was actively antagonizing her, but it was simple harmless teasing. There was hardly anything to tell his cousin about. Adrien wouldn’t understand, he was too… He couldn’t even find the words to describe it. Nice? No, that didn’t sound right. Felix could be nice too—but only when he felt like it.

Felix turned to Marinette, whose back was still blatantly turned towards him. He thought about his current position in the Agreste mansion, contemplating how he’d be able to lay low. If Adrien thought there was a conflict between himself and one of his friends, he would be sure to prod at it, and try to fix the situation. Not to mention, if his mother caught wind of the situation, it would be yet another reason to ship him back to England. Felix would have to get Marinette to agree to making nice with him in front of Adrien, even if she didn’t mean it—simply to ensure Adrien didn’t become an unappreciated nuisance. He cared for his cousin, but Adrien could be… Naive, occasionally.

“Marinette, I can see Adrien’s point. We should give this… Whatever this is, a rest. Besides, we have that English project together for the semester. We’re going to be spending a lot of time together, so we should learn to get along.”

Perfect. There seemed to be enough truth and sincerity in his words to convince Adrien of his new-found kindness, based on Adrien’s thankful smile.

***

Marinette looked between the two boys, gears whirling in her head. Felix was smirking at her, so clearly he didn’t mean a word he said. Adrien on the other hand was staring at her with a hopeful look in his eyes. He must have been worried about Felix getting along with everyone in a new school, which Marinette could understand.

She definitely wasn’t intending to be Felix’s new best friend, but she was willing to play nice in that moment if it meant making a friend happy, and easing his worries.

She struggled with her words for a moment, having to force them out. “Yeah, okay,” she sighed finally, throwing a glare in Felix’s direction, which only seemed to widen his smirk. 

Adrien exhaled in relief, a satisfied smile painting his lips. “That’s great. I guess whatever was going on isn’t really any of my business, but I’m glad you guys are going to get along.”

Felix nodded, while Marinette tried to keep a smile plastered across her lips, but she could feel her eye twitching. She would have any kind of friendship with Felix over her dead, rotting body. 

Thankfully, just then, Nino called out for Adrien to come talk to him. As Adrien shot a quick “see you later!” to both of them, Marinette could barely sigh in relief before Felix cleared his throat from behind her. Marinette whirled around to face him.

“What was that?”

“Getting my cousin off our backs. Your welcome,” Felix replied with a raised eyebrow.

“More like getting him off your case,” she countered quickly, eyes scanning his face, searching for answers in his expression.

“To an extent, yes,” Felix admitted, smoothing his shirt briefly. “But we also will inevitably be spending a considerable amount of time together because of our project, so at least appearing to have a friendly relationship would be beneficial for our grade, no? Otherwise it’ll tarnish both of our reputations.”

“Oh, so this is just you trying to make yourself look good,” Marinette reasoned, raising her eyebrows in skepticism. “Well, good luck with that.”

Before Felix could say another word, she spotted Alya by the entrance to the foyer. She made a beeline for her, not saying another word to Felix. She wasn’t in the mood to do mental gymnastics, it was only 8:00. 

“Hey girl!” Alya called out to Marinette as she approached.

“Morning,” Marinette answered dully, slumping onto a bench behind Alya. 

Alya raised her eyebrows and sat down next to Marinette. “You seem pretty worn out, what’s going on?”

Marinette sighed dramatically. She already knew that Alya wouldn’t listen to a word of criticism about Felix, so she wasn’t sure that there was even a point in telling her about her conversation with him and Adrien. 

“Just tired,” Marinette lied easily. In stressful situations, she still hadn’t perfected the subtle art of lying, but she’d gotten pretty good at it in everyday situations, as she had to do so pretty often as Ladybug.

No matter how convincing Marinette sounded, however, Alya still didn’t buy her excuse. She’d known Marinette for long enough to see through her.

“This is about Felix, isn’t it?”

Marinette sighed again, but decided that there wasn’t a point in lying about it. “Yeah. Like I said earlier, he’s up to something, but I can’t figure out what he thinks he’s doing.”

“Marinette, we’ve been over this. I know you’re a little on edge about Chloe this year, but the same thing happened with Lila, remember? And she’s perfectly fine.”

Marinette’s eye twitched. None of this had anything to do with Chloe, of all people. “Lila isn’t fine, she’s been feeding you guys lies for years. I don’t get how you’re still falling for it!” she exclaimed angrily, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Marinette, you need to let that go. It was one misunderstanding from middle school. She’s not an evil person, and you need to stop painting her as one.”

“No, you need to open your eyes and actually listen to me!” she snapped. “How are you still believing her over me, your best friend, after all these years? She’s been trying to ruin my life since we were 14!”

“Because you’re wrong about her, and I’m not gonna sit around and watch while you go around telling everyone she’s anything other than a perfectly nice girl. Not to mention, you’re not exactly a truthful person either. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you sneaking off all these years—not to mention yesterday, when you didn’t go check on Felix when you said you would.”

Marinette avoided responding to that last part. She couldn’t talk about that, especially in public, and she didn’t feel like making up an excuse.

“Then go ‘stand up for her’ around someone else. I can’t deal with this right now.”

Alya’s expression tightened. Marinette could practically hear the gears turning in her head as she tried to figure out whether or not she should leave. Marinette did her best to keep her expression stoney, not wanting Alya to see how upset she was.

“Fine, I’ll go.”

Alya stormed away. Marinette took a deep breath, steadying herself before school started. She hated arguing with Alya, but she couldn’t stand for Lila’s lies anymore—she’d taken abuse from that girl long enough.

Unfortunately, just as Marinette had calmed down and was going to leave for class early, a sickeningly sweet voice called out from behind her.

“Marinette! It’s so nice to see you.”

“Perfect timing as always, Lila,” Marinette replied coldly, not bothering to turn to face Lila—forcing her to walk around Marinette to face her straight. 

“That’s right. And don’t think I didn’t overhear your very loud disagreement with Alya. Like I told you, I’ve had all your stupid friends wrapped around my finger for years. So, either get out of my way, or play along. Otherwise, you won’t like what happens next,” Lila threatened, getting into Marinette’s personal space.

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”

“Stick around and find out,” Lila replied with a slightly sinister smirk.

Just as Marinette was about to lose all self restraint and punch Lila’s face in, she felt a hand on her shoulder. 

“Marinette. I need to talk to you about our English project.”
Marinette raised an eyebrow, her anger dissipating into confusion. “What about it, we haven’t really-”

“It’s urgent,” he stated flatly.

Marinette’s eyes flicked to Lila, who was turning progressively redder as the seconds ticked by. She wasn’t particularly in the mood to talk to either of them, but talking to Felix was better than dealing with Lila, so she allowed him to guide her away from the conversation, his hand on the small of her back.

She allowed him to guide her around a corner into a smaller, less crowded hallway, before swatting his hand away. 

“Why do you keep doing that?”

“I was expecting a thank-you, but I’ll live I suppose.”

“Seriously Felix, why do you even care?”

He shrugged, leaning against the wall. “The less drama the better, I suppose.”

“That’s the opposite of what you said yesterday,” Marinette reminded him, noticing the contradiction.

“Motivations and opinions change,” he replied simply. “My cousin also seems to care for you, and I’d rather not sit and watch an ammature manipulator mess with a friend of his.”

Marinette was skeptical, but she knew that that was probably the best answer she was going to get out of him. She’d have to interrogate him later—but she was sure that she was going to be late for class if she didn’t go soon.

“Look, we both have to get to class, but this conversation isn’t over.”

“I suppose not.”

Chapter Text

It was finally lunch, and Marinette had decided to go out for a walk. She was still angry with Alya for not trusting her, avoiding Felix (which proved to be difficult, seeing as they sit next to each other in second period), and staying away from Adrien because she didn’t want to have to pretend to actually like Felix—so that left her with two options. Sit alone, or go for a walk.

Contrary to her sour mood, it was actually a beautiful day out. The sun was shining, and the trees were swaying serenely in the soft breeze. She exhaled softly, as if trying to blow her feelings away. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be working. Her stomach still turned uncomfortably, as she recalled her argument with Alya. Marinette loved her obviously, but she just… Couldn’t anymore. She couldn’t be around someone who didn’t back her up and trust her in serious situations. At least she had some company to talk to about it.

“Marinette, I think you ought to apologise to Alya.”

“Tikki, I told you, it’s not me who needs to apologise. When she’s ready to actually listen to me and back me up, then I’ll go talk to her,” Marinette countered, sinking onto a park bench. The hot metal burned her skin slightly, but she couldn’t bring herself to pay it much mind.

“I know, but you both are very stubborn people. I know that you haven’t done anything wrong, but someone has to start some kind of conversation. If you don’t apologise, you should at least try to talk about it with her. She’s your best friend!” Tikki exclaimed, poking her head out from Marinette’s purse. 

“If she was really my best friend, then she wouldn’t be getting cosy with Lila, a girl who’s obviously been attacking me for years,” Marinette snapped, crossing her arms.

Tikki didn’t say anything for a moment, probably contemplating what to say to make her feel better.

“I may not be a human like you Marinette, but even I can tell that the bond you have with Alya is strong. But, if you don’t think you can talk to Alya right now, then I respect that,” she eventually reassured her carefully.

“Yeah, I… Thanks for understanding, it’s not your fault. It’s just been… A rough couple of days, to say the least,” Marinette replied with a small, forced smile, trying not to let her emotions get the better of her.

She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. It was exhausting to be constantly trying to suppress her emotions. She was always, restlessly on guard, trying to make sure she didn’t lose control. She had to stay positive, because if she got akumatized, she could kiss her miraculous goodbye, along with the rest of Paris.

After the Chat Blanc incident, she couldn’t bear to think about the consequences. She’d trust Chat Noir with her life, but Master Fu always told them that they were stronger together for a reason.

Marinette took another deep breath and plastered a smile on her face—just like always.

“I think lunch is over in a few minutes, we should head back,” Marinette told Tikki, clasping her purse shut again. However, just after she stood up from the bench, a loud boom echoed through the buildings around her.

Marinette whipped her head around, her eyes locking on an explosion of purple smoke in the opposite direction of the school. “Now’s really not a great time,” she muttered, ducking into a nearby alley. 

Marinette unclasped her bag again, allowing Tikki to fly out, and hover beside her head.

“Ready, Tikki?” Marinette asked with an exhausted look in her eyes, but standing up straighter all the same.

“Spots on!”

***

Ladybug swung her yo-yo forcefully, allowing it to wrap itself around a chimney before swinging herself onto the rooftops. She scanned the chaotic scene around her, watching as Parisians attacked each other, or were either crying or yelling. There were some who seemed unaffected by whatever had taken hold of the group, but the majority were doing something either destructive, or self-destructive.

However, she wasn’t given much time to dwell on the situation on the ground, as she heard a soft whizzing sound growing louder. She leapt out of the way just before a ball of that purple smoke collided with the concrete part of the roof she was just standing on, and exploded.

“Good afternoon, m’lady,” she heard a familiar voice call from behind her. She jumped, and dodged another barrage of purple glitter bombs before replying.

“I think she’s doing something to people’s heads—everyone’s fighting each other or crying down there,” Ladybug replied quickly, not bothering with pleasantries. 

“Straight to business, I see,” Chat Noir replied smoothly, flipping and landing next to Ladybug with a smirk.

“I’m not in the mood for much else right now, Chat.”

“Got it. What do we know about this akuma so far?”

“Not much else besides what you’ve seen—I haven’t even seen the akuma themself yet. By the looks of it, they’re either creating, or amplifying stress, or some kind of negative emotion,” Ladybug pondered, once more scanning the city below them.

“They’re probably amplifying what’s already there, I don’t think we’ve ever seen a victim who actually creates—just manipulation of what already exists.”

“Smart thinking. Let’s just figure out where this person is so we can get this over with. Careful not to get hit, their powers would probably completely break our focus and self-restraint.”

“I already don’t have any self-restraint, but I’ll try anyway,” Chat Noir joked, vaulting to the next building over. Ladybug just shook her head with a faint smile, before swinging to the building opposite to Chat Noir.

After some scouting, Ladybug eventually spotted a brunette girl in a purple suit by city hall. Her hair was done up into messy space buns, and the seams of her bodysuit were lined with purple glitter and gems. She was wearing an intricate, deep purple mask, and from what Ladybug could deduce, looked to be in her early twenties or late teens—just a few years older than herself.

Ladybug squinted, trying to make out more of the girl’s face. It looked like she had black tearstains tattooed across her cheeks, which made Ladybug sad for her. She wasn’t sure why the girl was akumatized, but it was clear she was deeply sad, based on her abilities, appearance, and overall demeanor.

She didn’t seem to be laughing maniacally or anything as she continued floating across her path of destruction—more just… Finished. Ladybug shook her head, remembering to first focus on the task at hand, then the girl’s wellbeing.

She flipped open her yo-yo, and dialed Chat Noir.

“Hey, I found the akuma. Check your map,” Ladybug informed him quickly. After he confirmed that he was on his way back, she slapped it shut, and swung closer to the victim, deciding to observe for a little longer while she waited for Chat Noir to get there. 

The longer she watched, the more confused she became. It didn’t look like the girl was actually doing anything, but there were waves of purple smoke cascading across the street, which didn’t explain the more condensed balls that were falling around her earlier.

Eventually, the girl seemed to notice Ladybug watching. She watched as the girl’s face shifted from a contemplative sadness, and contorted into an expression of anger. 

Ladybug barely had time to react before a staff materialised into the girl’s hand as she flung more of those purple smoke balls at her.

Ladybug leapt and flipped to avoid getting hit, eventually ducking behind a taller part of one of the roofs. How was she supposed to find the akumatized object if she couldn’t get close enough to see it?

“Hey! Moody-purple lady, over here!” she heard Chat Noir shout, as he waved his arms dramatically. The girl’s eyes narrowed, and she redirected her attack towards him. 

“My name is Lady Resentful!”

This gave Ladybug an opening to swing closer to Resentful. When she got to the building next to the victim, she swung across the strangely deserted street, making sure to get a good look at Resentful. She managed to spot a heart-shaped locket around her neck, before landing on the building next to Chat Noir. She was 99% sure that it was the akumatized object. There wasn’t really anything else on her besides her staff.

“Chat, aim for the locket!” Ladybug called out, swinging from the roof, around a lamp post, and circling back to fly towards Resentful. 

Resentful was quick to dodge, but Ladybug doubled back, looping her yo-yo around the victim’s torso. The two went flying towards the ground as Chat Noir vaulted towards them, grabbing Ladybug’s hand.

He yanked both Ladybug, and Resentful upwards—allowing Ladybug to grab the side of a building and quickly pull her yo-yo towards her. Resentful was forced into a spin as the string unraveled, giving Chat Noir time to fling himself towards Resentful.

He ripped the silver, heart-shaped locket from the girl’s neck as he flew by, and Ladybug swung her yo-yo towards him. He grabbed it, and she pulled him back towards the roof.

“Cataclism!”

Ladybug watched as the intricate metal locket disintegrated in her partner's hand, revealing a purple-spotted butterfly. Chat Noir gave her a quick wink, before leaping towards the victim, who was now falling towards the street at a rapid pace.

“No more evil-doing for you, little akuma!” Ladybug exclaimed, swinging her yo-yo behind her rapidly. “Time to de-evilize!”

She swung her open yo-yo towards the akuma, and captured it inside. “Gotcha,” she breathed with a sigh of relief, as she pulled the yo-yo back to her. “Bye, bye, little butterfly!”

She watched with a small smile as the small, white butterfly flew up, towards the sky. She didn’t linger on it for long, though.

She leapt down, and onto the street, running up to Chat Noir and the victim.

“Ladybug!” the girl exclaimed, a distraught look painted across her features. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to do any of that. I feel horrible.”

“It’s okay, you didn’t do anything wrong—Hawk Moth did,” Ladybug assured her, kneeling down beside the girl and Chat Noir, and placing a reassuring hand on her back.

“I know, I just… There’s just a lot going on in my life right now, and I was having a really, really bad day and— I guess I just lost control.”

“Don’t worry about it, we’ve all been there,” Chat Noir assured her, locking eyes with Ladybug.

Ladybug knew that he didn’t know any of what was going on in her personal life, but he always seemed to have a way of reading her emotions, even when she wasn’t saying how she was feeling outloud.

“Yeah,” she breathed in agreement, re-attaching her yo-yo to her hip.

The girl suddenly snapped up to sit straight, then quickly scrambled to her feet, cursing under her breath.

“Shit, I’ve gotta go check on someone,” she said quickly, attempting to catch her breath. “Thanks so much for saving me and everyone else!” she called back to the superhero duo before running off.

“Are you sure you’re-” Chat Noir started, but the girl was already rounding the street corner. “Okay then.”

Ladybug reached down to pick up the girl’s discarded locket. She opened it to see what was in it, but it was empty.

“That’s weird,” she remarked, showing it to Chat Noir. He also raised an eyebrow, examining it closely. 

“This isn’t the one I cataclysmed earlier, so maybe she bought it for a friend, and there was never anything in it?” he asked carefully.

“Maybe,” Ladybug agreed, trying to mentally dismiss it. Something about the situation didn’t sit right with her though, especially after the girl’s quick leave, and leaving her supposedly meaningful locket behind. Hawk Moth normally put akumas into something relevant to the person, and the locket in her hand was nearly identical to the one that had the akuma in it—they had to be related.

For now, she just shook her head, and turned towards Chat Noir.

“It’s weird,” Ladybug started, turning towards Chat Noir with a bewildered expression. “I didn’t even have to use my Luck Charm today.”

“It is… A little bit out of the ordinary,” Chat Noir agreed, leaning on his stick. “But nothing really went wrong today. It was almost too easy, if that makes sense.”

Ladybug didn’t say anything for a moment, before silently nodding in agreement. “Lucky Charm!” she called out.

From the swarm of ladybugs she summoned, a locked diary dropped into her hands. She stared at it for a moment, knitting her eyebrows together. She wrote in her diary all the time, and documented pretty much everything in her life. Lucky Charms always had to have meaning behind them, so Ladybug resolved to read through a few of her entries, and document this specific fight.

“Miraculous Ladybug!” she shouted, with a little less conviction than usual, watching as the citizens around her came to their senses. 

“Did that mean anything to you?” Chat Noir asked curiously, referring to the diary.

“Yeah… It did actually,” Ladybug replied slowly, still wondering why her Lucky Charm would point her towards it. It couldn’t just be random, it was too personal for that. However, her thoughts were cut short by a sound coming from Chat Noir’s ring.

Beep, beep, beep.

“Hey, I’m about to transform back, but if you need to talk about anything, superhero related or not, I’m only one call away.”

“Yeah, thanks, Chat. I really appreciate you.”

***

Marinette didn't go back to school that day. When she got home after the akuma attack, she told her parents that she was a victim of Lady Resentful (which wasn’t a complete lie), and that she wasn't feeling well (again, still not a lie).

After making sure she was okay, they sent her up to her room to get some rest, which Marinette was extremely grateful for. She didn't think she could physically finish the school day.

And so, she climbed the ladder to her bedroom, and just flopped down to lay on the floor—unable to muster enough energy to make it to her bed. She didn’t feel it so much when she was transformed because of the boost her miraculous gave her, but she was absolutely exhausted.

She rolled onto her back and stared at her ceiling, mulling over the events of the akuma attack. She still felt like something was off about that girl she and Chat Noir saved, but she couldn’t figure it out. Maybe Hawk Moth was just getting sloppy? It was one of the easiest fights she’d had from him.

But that still didn’t quite make sense to Marinette. If anything, Hawk Moth had grown more vicious and desperate as the years went on. Attacks came way more frequently now, and they were facing more powerful akumas for the most part.

Marinette couldn’t help but feel like she was overthinking it, but she’d also learned to trust her gut over the years. 

She forced herself to stand back up, and slumped over to her desk, flopping onto her arm chair. She reached into her desk drawer, pulled out her diary’s box, unlocked it, and pulled the pink book out.

She flipped through it absent-mindedly, not really looking for anything specific. She smiled vaguely at the entries from her last year of middle school, lingering on group pictures with her friends.

However, the entries got dark fast. Sure, she had documented a lot of really fond

memories, but her stories about akuma attacks specifically shook her. She’d tried to forget about the death she’d seen, and the gruesome injuries Hawk Moth caused over the years since she was able to easily reverse them with her Miraculous Ladybugs, but the vivid images of her mangled partner, deaths of innocent people, friends and family—they haunted her.

Chat Noir sacrificed himself often in fights, knowing that as soon as the fight was over, Ladybug would just bring him back. For him, he never seemed scared. He trusted her fully.

The problem was, she didn’t trust herself. What if she wasn’t able to defeat the akuma? What if she failed, and Hawk Moth won?

Memories flashed through her head—her loved ones clawing their way out of debris, and smoke—coughing, and half dead.

She shuttered, attempting to shove all these horrible images of gore and death out of her head, but she knew that she couldn’t forget about them—she never would. They were forever engraved in her subconscious, burned into the back of her eyelids—every fight, every day, every time she closed her eyes.

She forced herself to circle back to the reason she grabbed her diary in the first place, though those thoughts stayed—like the whizzing of a fan in the background. There was no way that her Lucky Charm was intended to make her spiral about losses and what-ifs, so she needed to move on.

She flipped around the pages some more, deliberately skipping over her more traumatic Ladybug entries. Finally, she paused on a specific page.

On it, was a picture her mom took of her and Alya when they thought no one was looking. The two of them were downstairs in the kitchen during one of their sleepovers, giggling over stolen cookies in pajamas.

The two of them looked so… Happy. Simple.

It should have been something she looked back on with fondness. Now, she only looked back on it with regret. It had been back before her role of Ladybug had grown so consuming. When she was younger. When she was happy.

While she wanted her relationship with Alya to be happy and simple like that picture, she just couldn’t anymore. She wasn’t the same girl she was three years ago, no matter how desperately she tried, and wished to be. 

She used to say that she wouldn’t trade being Ladybug for her wildest dreams, but… Now she wasn’t so sure. She wouldn’t let Hawk Moth win, she just couldn’t—that was a price she was absolutely unwilling to pay for anything—but if there was a way to give the burden to someone else, like a wish…

Marinette slammed her diary shut. She didn’t like where her mind was wandering, and she wasn’t going to wait for the last stop on her train of thought—even though she already had a good idea of what it was.

The universe—no, the multiverse—was far more important than her selfishness. She needed to get a grip.

She also needed to reconnect with her friends. She’d been so caught up in her own darkness and her own demons, that she’d forgotten that other people had flaws and problems of their own, too—even though theirs didn’t involve the fate of the world, they were still important.

Marinette knew that one of her greatest strengths—and flaws—was seeing the good in everyone, no matter what. Who was she to judge her best friend for doing the same?

It still wasn’t okay that Alya wouldn’t trust Marinette, that wasn’t something she could just excuse. But at the end of the day, just like Marinette, Alya was only human. Besides the Lila situation, she was the best friend Marinette could possibly ask for. 

What they really needed to do was to sit down, and really talk. Not just a small spat that they forget about two seconds after, an actual conversation where they communicate. 

Marinette had tried to explain her experiences with Lila to Alya in the past, but it was always in high-pressure situations, right after Lila had done something. Alya probably always brushed it off as anger at Lila’s so-called ‘accidents’.

If she could just lay out the facts for Alya and have a genuine heart-to-heart, maybe they could actually work things out.

Marinette crawled into bed, slipping into her covers fully clothed. It was still way too early to sleep, but she needed some kind of nap before she executed any kind of plan to deal with any of her many problems—which were now not only about Lila, but also Alya, Felix’s weird fascination with her, and her suppressed emotions. 

Yeah, running on empty wasn’t going to cut it.

And so, she fell into a restless sleep.