Daminette December

2020:10-Freedom

When Damian transferred into their class, Lila had immediately tried her tricks on him. She fluttered her lashes, told him about her great adventures, and warned him to watch out for the class bully, Marinette.

Immediately, he turned the tables on her. Damian Wayne called into question her upbringing, asking how she was brought up with no manners. It was obvious that her entire state of mind was that of a toddler, demanding attention and crying wolf to someone he knew nothing about. He declared her 'great achievements' to be false and laughable at best. He told her that if she ever laid her hand on him again, he wasn't against being suspended or being expelled for injuring her.

Lila stayed clear of him after that.

Adrien had overheard the whole confrontation and decided to get down to the bottom of it. He asked that Damian take the high road, going as far as to blame Marinette for his knowledge of Lila's lies.

"I'm not as stupid as the rest of the class." Damian scowled, "I am surrounded by people trying to fall into my good graces by pretending to someone they're not. I can smell a con-artist a mile away."

"Lila's not a con-artist!" Adrien cried out, "She's trying to make friends and-"

"Are you that delusional? She is lying to your classmates and manipulating them to turn against this girl!" Damian shouted.

Marinette wilted under his tone. She knew it would be no use. She had tried several times for Adrien to see reason, but he believed he was doing the right thing. That Marinette being the bigger person, was the best course of action until everything was revealed.

"That's not what's going on!" the young Agreste replied, "Everyone will figure out what is going on eventually! They'll forgive her and we can all be better friends."

Damian sighed, "I shall remain silent...for now." as he grabbed Marinette's arm and pulled her away from Adrien.

Once they were a good distance away, he sat her down.

"Don't tell me you believe in his bullshit?" he questioned.

"No." she answered, "I went along with it at first, but-"

"Why?" Damian asked, "Why would you go along with his idiotic idea?"

Marinette sighed, "I liked him. I wanted him to like me. Now, it's just so I can have a single friend in the class."

"Well, you can forget that!" he demanded, "I'll be your friend and we'll expose that stupid bitch together! I have a plan."

Marinette was so overjoyed to have someone committed to her side, she launched herself at him and pulled him into a hug. Feeling him tense up, she quickly pulled away.

"Sorry!" Marinette backpedaled, "I got a bit excited. What are we going to do?"

Adrien was glad to see that Damian wasn't actively exposing Lila. Lila seemed to be keeping distance from Damian, like he wanted, and he wasn't calling out her claims. It seemed his advice worked. The only thing that bothered him, was that Damian stuck to Marinette's side like glue. They were constantly together, whether in the classroom or after school. They were together so often that the rest of the class were convinced that they were dating. What Adrien hadn't expected, was what came next.

Almost three months later, Ms. Bustier told the class she would be on a leave of absence and that they would have a substitute for awhile. When they asked if she was okay, she only replied that she had personal matters to attend to and she wasn't sure how long it would take.

Very suddenly, everything changed. Principal Damocles was replaced by a former principal on the school board. Rules they had no idea existed, were enforced. He wasn't allowed to be pulled from school any longer and Lila was noticeably absent. It was only through the news that they learned that Lila was being sued for defamation, slander, intimidation, coercion, and truancy.

The class had run to her defense. They wanted to see who had threatened their friend's life with ridiculous claims. They were shocked to see it had been two of their classmates. They tried to stand up for her against Marinette and Damian, but he had all the proof they needed to see. He had gathered voice recordings of her claiming to know celebrities, video calls to celebrities themselves asking about the claims, clips from Alya's blog of her sharing her great expertise and knowledge, photos, and several video footages of Lila bulling Marinette into submission.

Marinette sobbed in Damian's arm. It was finally over; Lila's reign of terror. All her lies had been revealed in a court of law and she had to pay for everything she had done since moving to Paris. The class watched from afar as Marinette broke down in the new kid's arms. It was evident that they had lost her trust and friendship.

Adrien slinked away from the class to get a closer view to Marinette and Damian, to hear what they were saying. He knew his sweet friend and she had to be feeling bad about Lila's sentencing. Lila was sentenced to six years in a mental facility and was forced to redo her studies from the seventh grade.

"Are you okay?" Damian asked.

Marinette nodded

"You don't have to cry for her." Damian spoke, wiping her tears.

"I'm crying cause it's over." Marinette sobbed, "I just-I don't know what to do. I can't trust them after what they did for her."

"You don't have to." the young Wayne stated, wiping her tears away.

Marinette placed her hands on his cheeks and leaned forward, placing a kiss on his lips.

"Thank you for everything, Damian." Mari replied.

"Let me be the wind under your wings, Angel. You have a newfound freedom." Damian spoke, "I'll make sure you get your dream."

Marinette smiled. She knew Damian was different when she met him. He wasn't like the rest of the class. He wasn't like Adrien, telling her to take the high road. He wasn't like Bustier who forced her to be better because she was class president.

"How about we celebrate with some ice cream at Andre's?" he asked, holding out his hand.

"I'd like that." Mari answered, as the left the courthouse.

Adrien frowned. This wasn't what he wanted. He wanted his friends to be happy, but it seemed Marinette was now happy without them.