#the expose dropped the day before but nadja WAS REPORTING LIVE

[zoe-oneesama]

I don’t know what you were expecting babes.

Episode 51 Part 5 First < Previous > Next Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5 Ep 41, Ep 42, Ep 43, Ep 44 Ep 45, Ep 46, Ep 47, Ep 48, Intermission, Ep 49, Ep 50

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[mcheang]

Nice to type back here Lila salt idea based on (if u saw) Zoey 101 anger management Lila sees a therapy about her lying and anger issues and jealousy of Mari and possesivness of Adrien and irrational hatred of LB after lashing out at Mari and Alya records live exposing herself. Search and watch the episode on dailymotion to get ideas then write

Lying management

When Alya demanded proof that Marinette could not provide, Tikki had been present. Then when Lila had started threatening Marinette...Tikki may have hit the record button and got the whole thing on the phone.

She was about to send it to Alya when Marinette got upset. She accidentally sent it to everyone on Marinette’s contact list, including Jagged, Nadja and Ms Busier (ok, she’s a lousy teacher and won’t do much), on her way out of the purse.

As a result, while Lila got upset by Adrien and Tiki was comforting Marinette, the akuma was confused as to where to go because there was so much rage and hurt everywhere.

Once Marinette’s class got the text; they were shocked by Lila’s admission and began to do real fact checking.

Hawkmoth decided to settle for Alya, the reporter whose pride was injured and angered on behalf of her Best Friend and blog’s reputation.

Ladybug and Chat Noir did manage to defeat Lady Wifi, but not before Lady Wifi made sure everyone could see the list of lies Lila made about celebrities.

And yes; Lady Wifi finally asked Ladybug it she and Lila were friends. Ladybug said no before telling Alya to release Lila.

As an afterthought, Lady Wifi had an epiphany on live tv. “Hey, since you obviously weren’t in Achu helping Prince Ali, where were you all this time while we were attending school?”

Since this matter was blown up, the school board has no choice but to get involved. Dupont has ruined its reputation for blindly believing Lila’s falsified documents and excuses.

Mrs Rossi is embarrassed and agrees that she had failed to keep her Daughter in check.

Lila should have been expelled for her actions but since she was already receiving tons of hate mail and lawsuits (Jagged made sure the liar who threatened his favourite designer would not get away with this), that seems excessive.

As a result, Lila will repeat the year, serve detention, and attend lying management therapy classes.

Considering Lila’s infamy, everybody in that class hates her and bullies her.

Lila tries to get herself out of there by claiming she is being bullied.

Miss Bustier is not around to plea leniency on her behalf. She had been fired for bias treatment.

The new principal agreed to give Lila a trial. If she can make it 2 whole weeks without lying, she will no longer attend lying management classes.

Hired to be her constant supervisor is Mrs Verity.

Marinette complains that Lila will get off more easily now because she is good at acting the innocent lamb.

Adrien is also torn about how to feel about this. On one hand, he dislikes Lila for threatening Marinette. On the other hand, he feels sorry for her pariah status.

Alya suggests they test to see if Lila really will keep to her promise to be truthful and good from now on.

1. Alya gets tough looking fans of Jagged Stone to ask Lila if she is the one their idol warned about. (Lila changed her appearance so those outside of class won’t recognise her). Lila reluctantly says yes in front of Mrs Vertity. The fans do NOT beat her up but call her a horrible being. Lila just gritted her teeth through it all.

2. Marinette trips, splattering food all over Lila. As people start to gather, Lila knows they are not on her side and Marinette is obviously lying on the floor. There is no way they will believe Marinette did that on purpose. So Lila forcedly offers to help Marinette stand up. People wonder if Lila tripped Marinette. But as Lila starts to suggest that Marinette was the petty one, she sees Mrs Verity and just simply states she didn’t do anything.

3. Lila is preparing for a history presentation. She was supposed to do research on one of the French kings, but since she actually had to do the work instead of plagarising it, she relied on Wikipedia, as confirmed by Markov. Alya edited that page to have history on some other king. When Lila made her presentation, the teacher called her out for not doing proper research and asked where she got the information from. Lila truthfully says Wikipedia. (Mrs Verity had seen the site logo and while disapproving of it as a research source, she didn’t think it was the only source and had said nothing before). The professor asked if that was it and Lila sulkily agrees. This causes investigation to be done about Lila’s previous papers and they are discovered to have been done with her classmates help. Lila’s grades dropped. Lila wants to lighten her classmates’ accusations but Mrs Verity again makes her stop

Worried Lila will get away with no lying therapy, Marinette comes up with a plan.

On the last day, Lila is forced to give a seemingly sincere public apology to Marinette. Mrs Verity congratulates her and leaves to tell the principal.

Marinette: I honestly didn’t think you could be truthful. See; this is how you are supposed to make friends.

Lila: oh shut up! You may have won the battle this time around, but I will get even with you. I’ll smear your reputation so bad you’ll have to change your name!

Lila stills at the sight of Marinette’s unconcerned expression...and the sound of clicking heels returning.

Mrs Verity: sigh; you were right Marinette, she was just waiting for me to leave.

Lila’s punishment is extended, she is forced to be an outcast everywhere as her classmates keep posting what her new appearance look like so nobody will be deceived by her. Everywhere Lila goes, people call her names and avoid her. Some shops even refuse to serve her because they are worried about what she will do.

Akumas do come but Lila is no longer a suitable target because she has been exposed and people are keeping a close watch on her (even in the bathroom!)

It gets to the point where Mrs Rossi has no choice but to send Lila to a rural boarding school in the middle of nowhere for naughty children.

[miracul0us-multishipper]

Welcome to the Back (Part 13)

First Chapter  Previous Chapter  Next Chapter

I said I’d update slower now, ‘cause I want to reduce my phone time. Well. I failed.

- - -

Life was finally going her way again. Lila had known all her research and efforts would pay off in the end, but damn! Was she happy the end was finally here! 

“I don’t get it.”, Alya - poor, stupid Alya - asked her. Lila stood in the middle of the room, clinging to Felix who did a decent job looking fine with it. She hadn’t left him out of her sight the entire morning, except for going to the toilet. “I thought you two didn’t like each other.”

The rest of the class - minus Marinette, who was late again - had gathered around them as well. Lila gave Felix a kiss on the cheek. 

“Do you want to tell them, darling?”

She was the only one to notice how he cringed and leaned away from her touch, he tried hard enough to look happy. Marinette’s future depended on how convincing he was, after all.

“We already met in London, as children.”, he repeated the lie she’d told him earlier. “And we were... friends. That fell in love.”

Geez, for someone this clever he sure was lacking in the acting department.

“It was magical!”, Lila chimed in. “His mother had spotted me in the crowd of one of her shows, and she was so impressed by my looks that she wanted me to model for her. I was paired with him for the shoot and we clicked instantly, didn’t we? As if we were meant to be!”

“Yeah”, Felix choked out, “As if we’re meant to be.”

She laughed and waved her hand through the air.

“We lost each other when I had to move back to Italy, where I lost my memories of him in car accident. But Felix never stopped searching for me, right?”

He nodded.

“Yes, I just... didn’t recognize Lila when we met again, here. She had changed so much.”

“And she changed her name as well?”, Nathaniel doubted with raised eyebrows. She shot him a glare, before smiling brightly again.

“Of course! See, I had turned Queen’s evidence in a case back in Italy, where my testimony helped to bust a dangerous mafia family. The whole ordeal was kept under tight wraps, and I was hiding under a false name in England for a while. For my own safety, I called myself Lara Rouge when Felix and I met.”

She gave Felix a subtle push.

“That’s why I couldn’t find her, after she moved back to Italy when it was safe.”, he forced out. “And why I was so rude to everyone. Because I was”, he gulped, “heartbroken.”

“I only regained my memory yesterday, when Ladybug visited me.”, she hurried to continue. “She used Miraculous Ladybug on me when I told her I had forgotten my time in London, and then my Amnesia was healed! I immediately called Felix to tell him who I was, and now we are a couple again!”

“Wow!”, Mylène gasped. “That’s so romantic!”

The rest of the class seemed to buy it as well. Except Adrien maybe. Some part of him might have realized this couldn’t be true, and maybe he was actually bothered she had replaced him this quickly. But he kept quiet anyway. What choice did he have after all? She almost pitied him.

But alas, she had found someone that was more useful to her, and she didn’t plan on letting Felix go anytime soon. He was hers now. She had won.

As if to sweeten her victory, Dupain-Cheng entered the room.

“Marinette!”, Lila faked a smile. “Have you heard the news already?”

Her smile turned malicious.

“Felix declared his love for me!”

God, she wished she had recorded the look on Marinette’s face. This was just too great!

“W-What?!”

Revenge couldn’t get any sweeter.

“We are in love.”, she repeated. “Felix is my boyfriend now. I’m his girlfriend, the most important person in his life.”

She looked at Felix.

“Aren’t I, Darling?”

He closed his eyes in defeat, but it could be interpreted as devotion so she let it pass.

“Of course, Sweetheart. It’s true, everything you said.”

Marinette was paler than the wall.

“F-Felix, what are you talking about?”

Oh hell yes. She had expected this, anticipated it! And had told Felix exactly what she expected from him, should the moment come. His shoulders dropped. He knew what to do.

“I’m saying that there’s no one I care more about than Lila.”, he said slowly, visibly hoping for any kind of interruption. “Please...”

She shoved him when he trailed off, his next words were especially important. He looked as if he might cry. Drama queen.

“Please don’t make a scene just because you’re jealous!”, he spat out quickly, every word seeming to burn on his tongue. She almost squealed with glee.

As the class fell deadly silent, Marinette took a shocked step backwards. Oh jesus, were those tears in her eyes? And was her lip really trembling?! Lila had to use all of her self control to stop herself from cackling. This was simply delightful! She’d bet that Pigtails regretted trying to expose her now!

“Woah, Felix, what was that supposed to be?!”, Alya snapped and stepped next to her best friend. “Just ‘cause you have feelings for Lila all of a sudden doesn’t mean you get to say stuff like that to Marinette!”

“I’m sorry.”, Felix said sincerely. “That was uncalled for.”

Lila shrugged. It wasn’t necessary to elaborate on the lie of Marinette’s jealousy, and his apology would make him look better. It wouldn’t do for her to have a boyfriend nobody liked, after all. And now that the idea of Marinette being jealous was out in the open, it was going to fester in her classmates minds. Lila didn’t need to do anything, Marinette was going to bring herself down. Her attempts to save Felix would only further the image of her as a crazed stalker.

As for Felix... He didn’t have to like Lila, right now. Sooner or later, he’d get tired of hating her and give her a chance. They were inevitable! She only needed to keep him in line for long enough to let him see that. 

She was ecstatic when she sat down on her seat. Yes, everything was going to be perfect.

Lila was so caught up in her own triumph, she didn’t notice how Marinette gave Felix the tiniest of smirks.

-

They changed the seats, now that Felix was under her thumb. Alya was sent to sit with Marinette in the back, Adrien with Nino, and Felix next to her. She clung to him the entire lesson.

-

She took Felix’ phone. Lila didn’t believe he would text Marinette - any sign that Pigtails knew what was up would result in the video being published! - but better safe than sorry. 

-

She went through Felix’ book again, to see what else he had written since the last time she’d had it. When she found at least a dozen poems that could only be about Marinette, she ripped them out when he wasn’t looking and threw them in the trash, where they belonged. She comforted herself with the knowledge that soon, he’d only be writing about Lila. 

-

She made Alya take a few pictures of her and Felix to put on the Ladyblog. The reporter was delighted to, but had to ask her for her signature first. A ‘Declaration of consent to be published online’ had to be signed so Alya wouldn’t get in trouble, now that Lila was going to be famous. Lila gave it to her happily. It would be the first autograph of many, she knew.

-

She took Felix to the Eiffel Tower, on the date she had planned the very first day. It was perfect, even if the poem she made him write wasn’t as heartfelt as the ones he’d made for Marinette. It was good enough to put on her social media though, where she sent it to everyone in their class. Unfortunately, Marinette wasn’t akumatized when she saw it.

-

She received her invitation to the Awards ceremony at the TV1 tower, and an E-mail from Bordeaux to remind her of their deal. Now was the moment she upheld her end of their bargain and delivered him Felix. She smiled. Time to shine!

-

All participants would be allowed to witness the awards show, as it was the center piece of the contest. They were wasting their time, of course. Officially, there may be a vote, but René had already assured her of her victory. 

She clung to Felix’ arm when they arrived at the tower, waving into the camera’s that flashed. Tomorrow, the news would be full of Felix Leanne’s new girlfriend, diplomat’s daughter and winner of Journalism Junior. She was electrified with anticipation! 

The studio the contest would be filmed in was huge, cameras pointing at the stage from every angle. The participants whose reports had made it into the final selection were guided to the stage, where make-up artists put finishing touches on their assigned student. Lila shooed hers off, knowing she already looked flawless. She’d checked at least a dozen times.

“I’m so exited!”, Alya squealed next to her. The poor girl had no idea she had already lost. “I can’t wait. Hey, Marinette!”

Lila’s stomach turned when Alya waved at the pigtailed brat. Ugh! She had forgotten about that. Everyone who had participated could join the live audience, even if they weren’t published. Damn, why had René forgotten about that? She was sure he’d said Marinette was uninvited!

She inhaled to calm her nerves. It didn’t matter. Yes, Felix as her plus-one was on the other end of the audience, and he had strict orders not to interact with her. Everything was under control. All the better if Marinette was here to witness her soaring victory!

“We’re live in ten seconds!”, Alec Cataldi, the host of the show informed them and looked nervously on his watch. “Where’s Nadja?”

“I’m here!”, Madame Chamack replied swiftly from the other side of the room. She had exchanged a view words with Marinette - Ugh! - and was now racing to the stage. “Ready to go!”

“Alright!”, Alec announces before flashing his brightest grin at the camera. The lights went on.

“Hello and welcome!”, he beamed. “The wait is over; here we are again with this year’s Journalism Junior contest!”

“Over 300 students have sent us their reports.”, Nadja continued. “300 glimpses into the life of Paris’ youth! But only ten of them have been chosen to face the final jury.”

“And that is you! Our amazing viewers from all over France!”

Lila almost yawned while Alec explained the concept in his exaggerated voice. The participants would be introduced and interviewed, then, after the first ad-break, their reports would be shown. The viewers could vote for the report they liked the most, and in the end, the winner would be announced. This year’s price was a backstage ticket for Jagged Stone’s next concert. A perfect chance for Lila to make her lie about knowing him come true.

“Now let’s get started! Who is it whose life you’ll get to know? Any volunteers? Ah, just kidding, you’re all volunteers after all!”, Alec jested when some of their group made a move to step forward. “Hey, how about you?”, he then pointed to Lila, as René had told him to. “The girl with the cute hairdo!”

“Why, thank you, Alec!”, she said in her sweetest voice. “I’m Lila Rossi! My report is called ‘The true secret behind designing’.”

“Secrets, I love it! What did you focus on in your video?”

Lila smiled into the camera.

“The truth!”

Marinette in the last row coughed, and Lila continued.

“My video is supposed to give you a clear and genuine view into my life. At first, I wanted to film my family and all our travels - they are diplomats and ambassadors, you see? Or maybe my wonderful boyfriend, Felix Leanne - Hi, Darling! - but then I thought, instead of showing all the glamor around me, I could show the glamor inside of me. The spark in me I express through my designs!”

The interview went smoothly, and longer than any of the others after her. Bordeaux had made sure she was the center of attention.

Still, she was bored out of her mind as the others hectically introduced themselves before Alec hopped on to the next. It took about 15 minutes, but felt like forever. Finally, Alec turned to the camera again.

“Now, we’re all very excited to see more of our lovely candidates!”

“And we will!”, Nadja chimed in. “Right after the next few ads!”

The spotlights went off and a sigh escaped her. That had gone well! 

“Lila!”, her classmates called from the audience as she walked over. “Here we are!”

Before she knew it, she was surrounded by her groupies again, Felix among them out of necessity. She put on her happiest smile and linked arms with her boyfriend again. Lila loved doing that! Sooner or later, he’d stop flinching away from her.

“You were awesome!”, someone - who cared who it was? - cheered and Lila giggled.

“Oh, thank you! I was really nervous, being the center of attention is always so intimidating! But Felix grounded me, we practiced a lot together.”

She looked on her watch, disappointed that she couldn’t shower in their admiration a little longer.

“Sorry to leave you guys hanging so soon, but we have to go.”, she excused them. “My mother wanted me to give her a call when my report is on, so she can watch it too. She’s with Prince Ali right now, but I’m sure he’ll want to see it too. See you later, guys!”

Not waiting for their reaction, she pulled Felix with her, out of the studio.

“I’m sure he’ll want to see it too!”, Felix mimicked her as soon as they were out of the room. “Seriously?”

“They bought it.”, she shrugged. “It’s not my problem if they don’t have the brains to figure me out. Besides...”

She smiled.

“You did see through me from day one! Now we’re the only ones that know the truth, just the two of us. Kinda romantic, isn’t it?”

His scoff broke her good mood.

“Not really. And Marinette knows it as well, in case you forgot!”

Lila’s face turned sour.

“Just ‘cause she’s a nosy brat doesn’t mean she’s clever.”, she hissed. “Otherwise her future wouldn’t be in my hands, right now, would it?! Now shut up and follow me.”

He didn’t ask where they were going. Smart as he was, he’d likely figured it out already. A bit smarter, and he might finally get Pigtails out of his head! God, she hated that girl. 

Sighing, she pushed up the doors towards an empty room. ‘Jagged Stone’ was written on the tag next to it, since this was the studio he used for music videos. He had filmed in here just a few minutes ago, which is why they had chosen it for their meeting. It was close to the main studio, not accessible to anyone else that might be around, and impossible to prepare with bugs or cameras, since it had been in use the entire time. She wouldn’t put it past Felix to try to record them, but not even he would be able to sneak into this room while Jagged had used it. That, and the fact that she’d had him under her supervision since Monday, calmed her paranoia.

She gave an appreciative nod when she looked around. The room was stuffed with cameras and equipment, and the walls were still covered with black curtains for the background, but that aside, it was empty. No one except her, Felix - and René Bordeaux.

“You’re late.”, he remarked with an arrogant raise of his chin. She sighed.

“We’re here now. As promised.”

She gave Felix a small shove and Bordeaux’s attention shifted to him. A predatory grin spread over his face.

“Ah, my treacherous offspring. It’s been quite the long time, hasn’t it?”

Felix gulped, but his voice was steady when he spoke.

“Not long enough.”

“Careful.”, his father warned, grin widening. “If you forget your manners, I’ll forget my promise to spare your asian little friend. Mademoiselle Rossi here told me all about her.”

“She’s a liar!”, Felix snarled and her shoulders dropped. “I don’t know what she told you, but it’s just a pretty tale! Rossi has never met Jagged Stone, she doesn’t know Prince Ali or Steven Spielberg, and Ladybug hates her guts. Whatever it is she promised you, it’s a lie.”

Lila groaned. Why was he still so hung up about these... details? To their shared surprise, Bordeaux started laughing.

“Oh, Felix, Felix.”, he chuckled. “This just shows how unfit your mother is to raise a child. Stop embarrassing yourself with this idealistic nonsense and get real! That’s how the world runs!”

He gestured through the air.

“People do you favors, you return them; in this case I’ll give Mademoiselle Rossi a lift to popularity. You think I care about some petty lies? Newsflash, boy: The truth doesn’t sell! And once everyone believes her stories, it doesn’t matter whether they’re true or not. I made them reality.”

Felix growled.

“You are despicable.”

“And you a living disappointment.”, Bordeaux snarled back, his grin turning into a furious scowl. “How much time did I waste on raising you ungrateful brat? And you just threw all my lessons away as soon as I was out of the house. You got yourself into this mess, now live with it.”

“I don’t even know what you are talking about!”

“Don’t play even stupider than you are, boy!”, his old man yelled and Lila rolled her eyes. Couldn’t they speed this up a bit? “I’m talking about you going to a public school like a peasant! About you surrounding yourself with penniless scum! About you cozying up to that worthless baker girl!”

“Marinette has more talent than you and Rossi combined!”, Felix shouted. “And both of you know it! Otherwise you wouldn’t have copied her report, and you wouldn’t have cheated her out of the contest!”

“Now, now.”, Lila chimed in before Bordeaux could reply something even nastier. “I don’t want to interrupt this touching father-son reunion, or quality bonding time or whatever, but we don’t have the whole evening.” 

She gave Felix a jealous glare.

“Also, I only copied Dupain-Cheng to spite her, not because she’s that skilled. Geez, if Monsieur Bordeaux hadn’t rigged the vote to let me win, this video would have been a complete failure! I’m doing her a favor, honestly.”

Felix’ eyes seemed to burn holes into her head, but Bordeaux only sighed and regained his composure.

“Oh, whatever. Let’s talk about business, children.”

His faked stage-smile returned.

“Now that young Miss Rossi here has provided me with intel on you, Felix, our time has come. See, not only can I expose this Marina-Girl as a copycat any time, thanks to your girlfriend I also have a steady stream of blackmail material.”

He stared at Felix with an arrogance that made even Lila retch.

“Any disobedience on your side, Felix, will result in immediate consequences for Baker MacDoublename. There’s so much potential for scandals, believe me. If I want to, I can ruin her parents bakery before my first coffee! Or I’ll make her famous as a the shallow user she is, trying to milk the children of rich and noble families like ours or the Agreste’s for fame! Or I’ll-“

“We get the picture.”, Lila hurried him. His monologues were even worse than Hawkmoth’s, for god’s sake! Bordeaux cleated his throat.

“Yes, well. You get the picture.”, he repeated.

“And what do you want me to do?”, Felix hissed. “Play model son? Let you use me for attention to your pathetic shows?”

“Felix, don’t be so rude.”, she scolded him with a pout. “It’s for your own good-“

“You can tell this bullshit to Agreste, Rossi. He might be stupid enough to believe it.”

She crossed her arms, insulted. He just wouldn’t listen to her!

“Adrien doesn’t believe it.”, she said, just to correct him on something. She hated his self-righteousness. “He’s just smart enough to enable it. He knew from day one, and keeping quiet didn’t do him any harm, did it?”

“I don’t even care what you are talking about.”, Bordeaux snapped. “Shut up, both of you! The adult speaks now.”

Lila huffed, but let him have his way. He was just a means to an end.

Satisfied, Bordeaux looked back to Felix, leaning down to his angry spawn.

“You will help me get custody of your ungrateful self!”, he ordered, emphasizing every syllable. “The judge will respect your wishes, and that spineless Evelyn as well. She’ll know something’s up, and when I threaten her with restraining orders - Karma is a bitch! - she’ll have no choice but to annul the divorce if she wants to keep seeing you. That way, I’ll set our family on the right path again.”

He grinned smugly, likely expecting some sort of applause for the plan Lila had thought of. She sighed and put on another smile.

“Very thoughtful, Monsieur.”

“Isn’t it?”, he fished for praise, an eager smirk on his face. It vanished when Felix let out a sigh. No angry, frustrated sigh. No, it sounded relieved. 

“There’s just one problem.”, he said with a wide smile. His entire posture changed from aggressive, helpless to confident and calm. Lila’s stomach twisted in panic. “That’s not going to happen.”

Both Lila and Bordeaux flinched when a slow, clapping sound echoed through the room and the curtains lifted, revealing Marinette.

“Excellent, excellent! An Oscar for Felix Leanne, please!”, she exclaimed cheerfully, the beret she’d made in her video on her head. “And cut!”

The remaining curtains went up as well and Lila whimpered in shock. There, at the wall and with faces varying from angry to triumphant, stood her classmates, Jagged Stone, and Nadja Chamack with her entire camera team.

“You were right about one thing.”, Felix said smugly and patted his father on the back, who was frozen in fear. “Karma really is a bitch.”

- - -

Ya wanna know how they did it? Stay tuned for Part 14!

[miscellaneous-miraculous]

Day 15: Sacrifices

Finals are finally done so I’m hoping to catch up on the rest of these prompts soon, hope you enjoy!

AO3

Marinette groaned; she’d been ignoring the constant text notifications for the better part of an hour. It was too early for any reasonable person to be up and akuma had stopped two months ago with Hawkmoth’s defeat. Despite the sleepy haze still coating her mind, she was sure of that. Marinette buried her head under her pillow, slamming it down over her ears.

The she heard Tikki’s muffled voice say, “Marinette, I think you really ought to check your phone!”

“It’s too early,” Marinette tossed the pillow away. Then she jolted awake, her heart skipping several beats. What if it was Adrien? What if he’d needed her and she’d been ignoring him all morning? She promised she would be there whenever he needed her. Now he was going to hate her, or think she hated him, or –

“Marinette!” Tikki’s voice brought her back to the present. Right. Look at the phone before jumping to any conclusions.

Marinette picked up her phone, scrolling to her earliest notification, her heart dropping into her stomach. The notification for her news app had been first, the headline printed in big, bold letters: Chat Noir’s Identity Exposed: Adrien Agreste Put His Own Father in Jail.

Scrolling up were text messages, mostly from Alya, a few from Nino, and a sprinkling from the rest of the class. None from Adrien. He probably had his phone off – or he was being mobbed and couldn’t – focus, Marinette, Adrien’s going to need your help. She dialed his number, kicking her sheets off and climbing down from her loft as the barest outlines of a plan began to form in her mind.

“Hey, this is Adrien, sorry I couldn’t answer the phone right now, leave a message after the beep!”

“It’s Marinette, I’m guessing your phone is turned off now – so you won’t hear this anyway, but if for some reason you do turn on your phone, like if you needed to check the best way to escape a hoard of people – which you probably already know from modeling anyways and that’s such a weird thing to google and – I’m rambling, you’re fine – you have to be fine. Adrien, please call me back and tell me you’re fine! Or text, or just keep your phone off – that’s probably safer anyways. I gottagoseeyouinabitloveyoubye!” Marinette hung up, trying her best to not toss her phone across the room. She hated voicemail, not just because of the Copycat incident, and it was awful with anyone.

She shook her head, the plan, focus. Marinette dialed Alya, praying she wouldn’t get another voicemail.

Alya picked up on the first ring, “Finally! I’ve been trying to reach you all morning, girl! Have you seen the news?”

“Yeah –”

“I’m working on a Ladyblog article asking people to give him some space – dude has had a rough couple weeks. Is there anything you want me to add in particular? You’re not getting swarmed, are you?”

“No, I’m fine, Alya, thanks,” Marinette said, pulling on her jeans. “I’m just worried about Adrien.”

“Me too, girl,” Alya said. “Nino’s talking about trying to head over soon if you want to join.”

“I will, but first, I need your help with something.”

“Name it.”

                                              ------------------------

Ladybug and Nino snuck into Adrien’s apartment building through the rooftop access. Alya planned to join them later, once the article dropped and the buzz died down. There was a mass of reporters surrounding the main entry to the building and Ladybug felt bad for anyone who was just trying to come and go from the building for their daily lives. Hopefully, it would clear up quickly with Alya’s new article.

Adrien’s floor was blissful empty. He was usually at Nino’s or the bakery anyway, so Marinette wondered if most of the residents even knew where he lived. She let herself into the apartment, Nino following close behind.

“Adrien? It’s Marinette and Nino.”

Plagg was the one to greet them. “Woah, kwami!” Nino said.

“Yeah, we got more pressing matters on our hands than introductions,” Plagg said. “Maybe you can convince Adrien you don’t hate him or want his miraculous.”

Marinette nodded. “Where is he?”

“Bedroom.”

“I’ll wait out here,” Nino said. “He probably doesn’t want too many visitors at once.”

“I’ll wait out here with this one,” Plagg nodded toward Nino. Marinette definitely heard him ask for cheese as she walked into Adrien’s room.

Adrien – or, what she assumed was Adrien – was curled under the covers, the news station on in the background. “Adrien,” Marinette said tentatively. “I brough you a croissant, fresh from the bakery – or well, I guess it’s not exactly fresh anymore, but it was fresh this morning and I should’ve just come right over here but I had to meet with Alya first and we couldn’t do it here and you would’ve tried to stop me anyways – that’s not the point. The point is I don’t hate you, I’m not mad at you, and I definitely don’t want your miraculous.”

Adrien poked his head out, “Y-you don’t?”

Marinette sat next to him on the bed, “I don’t.”

“You’re not mad at me?”

“I’m not.”

“And you don’t want my miraculous?”

“I don’t.”

Adrien paused for a moment, watching her. Then he threw his arms around her, burying his face into her shoulder as he pulled her into the nest of blankets. Marinette giggled, “Adrien, you’re going to smush the croissant.”

He loosened his hold just enough for her to put the bag on the nightstand before clinging to her again. “I’m so sorry, Bug, I –”

“There’s nothing you need to apologize for,” Marinette turned, freeing her arm to run a hand through his hair. “None of this is your fault.”

“I should’ve been more careful,” he insisted.

“There’s no way you could’ve known that guy was about to come around the corner recording.”

“But –” he trailed off as Nadja suddenly put a hand to her ear, a signal she was getting a message.

“This just in, Ladybug has revealed her identity in a video recently published to the popular Ladyblog.”

Adrien sat up, looking at her in horror, “Bug, please tell me you didn’t –”

“It’s confirmed, Ladybug’s identity is aspiring designer Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Jagged Stone’s go-to designer and Adrien Agreste’s girlfriend,” Nadja smiled, winking at the audience. “Looks like Ladynoir is canon after all.”

Marinette clicked off the TV. Adrien was staring at her, wide eyed, mouth open. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, but nothing came out.

“W-why?” Adrien finally managed.

“Gotta use my popularity for something,” she teased. “And now everyone can go crazy about Ladynoir being canon instead of talking about your father.”

“Marinette, you didn’t have to – you shouldn’t have –” he shook his head.

“Chaton, look at me.” He did. She put a hand to his cheek. “I wanted to do it.”

“But – why?”

“Because I love you.”

Adrien sucked in a breath, “Say that again.”

Marinette smiled, taking his hand and pressing a kiss to his knuckles, “I love you.”

He leaned forward, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. “I love you too.”

A grin grew on his face, his eyes filling with a familiar playful light, but before Marinette could find out his plans, a distressed shout from Nino broke through the air. Marinette faintly heard something about cheese.

“Plagg,” Adrien sighed. “We should probably go stop him before he destroys the kitchen.”

[bloom-agreste-cheng]

I am so happy to see this.

I don't know what you were expecting babes.

Episode 51 Part 5 First < Previous > Next Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5 Ep 41, Ep 42, Ep 43, Ep 44 Ep 45, Ep 46, Ep 47, Ep 48, Intermission, Ep 49, Ep 50

Ko-fi | Patreon

[wonderwoman6199]

Oh no! If it isn’t the consequences of her own actions!!!!😱

I don't know what you were expecting babes.

Episode 51 Part 5 First < Previous > Next Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5 Ep 41, Ep 42, Ep 43, Ep 44 Ep 45, Ep 46, Ep 47, Ep 48, Intermission, Ep 49, Ep 50

Ko-fi | Patreon