Forgotten

Chapter 11

"I know I already asked you to help Chloe find her feet again since she doesn't remember anything, but Father told her that she has always been an Agreste."

Marinette nodded, not quite knowing which direction Adrien was taking their conversation in. In a matter of sentences, he had gone from asking her how her afternoon had been to telling her his father had begun lying to Chloe about her family. How could she help him with that? From the few interactions she had with Gabriel Agreste, he had seemed stubborn and harsh, not willing to change his views for almost anything.

"Do you mind going along with it? Father said we had to make sure she doesn't find out about her life before the accident."

"Will that work? Lying won't work forever; eventually, someone will slip up or Chloe will find something from before the accident. Your father can't control everything all the time."

"Even if it won't work, Father is going to try and control every little detail of her new life Chloe sees. He's already stopped me from getting any information about the accident online and I'm sure he'll do the same to Chloe." Adrien sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, knowing that Marinette was already busy with everything she did in her spare time. Asking her to go out of her way to not only be Chloe's friend but to then lie straight to her face was a lot. But what else could he do? "Do you mind going along with it?"

Marinette's lips pursed as she thought everything through. Chloe had been almost nothing but a horrible person the entirety of their lives, but she also deserved a second chance just like everyone else. "Fine, but I don't like lying like that."

Of course, Marinette knew that deep down saying she was completely against lying would be hypocritical. Since she had become Ladybug, she had told more tiny lies than she could count to protect her secret identity. Even though each white lie slipped from her lips without a second thought, she couldn't help but feel like she was betraying the trust of the people around her each and every time. Chloe would just be another name on the long list of people, even if the lies were supposed to protect her.

Besides, if she was friends with Chloe then she would likely see Adrien more and more. That meant she would have more chances to confess her feelings for him. For a few seconds Marinette could almost see a plan forming in her mind before she a wave of guilt crashed down upon her. Using the horrible situation Chloe was in for her own gain was downright despicable. She couldn't do that to Adrien or Chloe.

"Thank you, Marinette. I don't know what I would do if you weren't as nice as you are. If you any need a favour, don't hesitate to ask." The guilt suffocating Marinette's heart tightened its grip as Adrien's naïve words sunk in. Why would he assume she had ulterior motives? Adrien Agreste was far too trusting for his own good.

"I still have to ask everyone to treat Chloe like an Agreste, so I'll see you in class?"

"See you in class." Marinette turned and began to walk away, before turning back to Adrien. "And Adrien?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sure everything will be okay in the end."

Adrien smiled a little, but it was still blatantly obvious that he wasn't his usual self. That was to be expected but seeing someone who had been so happy all the time suddenly look like they had the weight of the world on their shoulders was jarring. "I hope so, too. Thanks, Marinette."

The rest of the class took his request as expected; not very well. Alya was still fuming slightly after their last Chloe-centric conversation but Nino was a little more willing to help his best friend out. He was still sceptical, as were Rose and Mylene, despite both agreeing to be careful about what information they let slip to Chloe. Everyone else reacted with either scepticism or said they would rather stay out of Chloe's way until they were sure she was different, despite Adrien's best attempts at convincing them. Fortunately, everyone he spoke to had agreed to keep up the charade of Chloe being an Agreste, whether they were happy about it or not. After all, they did kind of owe him after the whole Lila incident.