I Trusted You

Guilt

They managed to get a decent amount of work done before Adrien's phone pinged with a notification. "It's Nathalie, " he sighed. "I've got to go study Chinese. We'll work on this another time then?"

"Yeah-" Marinette started, but she got interrupted by a certain someone.

"Yes, of course, Adrien! Have a good time! " Lila replied.

Marinette crossed her arms. She did not appreciate how Lila would always manage to annoy her.

Adrien waved, but before be left, he flashed Marinette a smile. She smiled back, her cheeks turning pink.

"Don't you have to go now?" She asked Lila.

"I can't. My mother isn't home yet. I'll have to wait. " she answered flatly.

Marinette noticed the significant change in her tone. "Why isn't she home yet? "

"Don't you know? She's an ambassador. She has work to do, she doesn't bake sweet little treats and live all happy like your parents do. "

Marinette ignored the insult and frowned. "She... Doesn't spend time with you? "

Lila huffed. "Of course she does. "

Lila was a good liar, but Marinette could sense that she was lying this time. She didn't know what to feel.

They sat in silence for a while until Marinette's mom popped in. "Lila, your mother is here. "

Lila packed up her belongings and left without a word.

Marinette sat on the floor for a while but then looked at the clock. She had patrol in a few minutes, and she still didn't know what was up with Chat Noir. With that, Lila, the project, and her Guardianship, she had a lot on her plate. And she didn't even know how to handle one.

                        ---------

Ladybug waited impatiently for Chat Noir, pacing on the spot. Sure enough, he landed right beside her. "Sorry I'm late. I-"

"Chat Noir, what was that all about yesterday? You said you were used to loneliness? What happened? "

He took a breath. He didn't want to tell her about how sad he was feeling. She was probably either going to lash out at him or dismiss him.

There was only one solution.

He let out a fake laugh. "That was a joke, Ladybug. I'm not lonely. "

She raised an eye brow. "You aren't? "

"No, I'm not. Aren't you used to my puns by now? "

"Thank goodness, Chat. You'd had me worried. "

He was surprised how easily he was able to lie. Well, at least Lila's good for something.

"But are you sure you're not sad? "

He gulped. "Yes, Ladybug. I'm not sad.

Ladybug finally noticed how he was not calling her his lady. He was still using puns, but they were very rare. She didn't know whether to believe him or not, so she decided to ask one more question.

"What happened to all your puns and nicknames?"

Oh. That. He racked his brain to think of a possible explanation to why he wasn't goofing around. 

"What do you mean, M'lady? My puns are purr-fectly abundant."

She groaned. "Why did I remind you? " She flicked his bell. She smiled. "Let's get to patrol. "

They patrolled together, but Chat Noir still couldn't shake away the guilt of lying to her.