Treehouse

Rumors

The next morning, Marinette woke up with a smile on her face, stretching as her eyes fluttered open. She got ready and went to school quickly, but when she got there, she was all but shocked when everyone's eyes were on her, and not in a good way. She could tell people were whispering, but had no idea why.
"MARINETTTEEEEE!!!!!!!!" Alya squealed, running to Marinette and hugging her with a jump on her back, nearly causing the both of them to stumble and fall to the ground. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? Whydidn'tyoutellmesooner????????" Alya jittered excitedly in front of her as she took her phone and scrolled endlessly before finally showing her a news article that reads: 'Chat Noir Dating A Civilian?'
Marinette gasped and looked at the headline, her cheeks burning red. "I- how- but-" she stammered, scrambling to her feet. "Alya!!! This is- this is fake news. Definitely," she said, nodding, not noticing the next headline somehow showed a photo of them kissing on her balcony.
"Fake news, yes, of course, defintiely so tell me this?" She said blankly, scrolling some more and showed her the one with the photo. "Even if let's say, you were hit by Dark Cupid or whatever excuse comes to mind, wouldn't it require a true love's kiss to bring you back? And you look Marinette enough to me."
She looked at the photo and squeaked, biting her lower lip. "This is an invasion of personal privacy!!! Whoever took this photo better speak up now so I can murder you in cold blood!!!" she said a little too loud, and when everyone looked as though they'd seen a ghost, she gulped, grabbing Alya's hand and pulling her to the classroom.
"So it is true!!!" Alya smiled crookedly as they were brought into the classroom, still empty. Since they didn't notice Felix. "Is it.. is it a one time thing or are you and Chat Noir, you know, a thing?"
She fiddled with her fingers and smiled sheepishly. "Well... okay, you can't tell anyone!! But he told me last night that... that he wanted to make me happy. And that I deserved someone that cared about me as much as I did for him. We've been... talking more," she bit back a smile and kept her eyes on the ground.
Alya's smile only grew wider, barely able to hold back the small jittery steps as she fangirled. "You're dating Chat Noir!!!! Oh my god, wait wait-" she squealed, a hand to her mouth. "What about, sunshine boy????????"
Her smile almost immediately faded when she remembered Adrien. She clenched her jaw and shook her head. "It... wasn't meant to be, I guess. I mean, yeah, okay, we almost kissed, but it got interrupted again. He probably didn't mean it anyways," she smiled sadly and sat down on one of the desks.
Alya looked at her sadly, hugging her quickly for a little bit, before pulling away, hands kept on her arms. "Well, you did have feelings for him for like, almost two years now and it's kind of his fault for not noticing. And! And you being all nervous around him was cute at fourteen, not so much sixteen. You deserve someone who makes you feel safe. Who better than a hero, right?" She teased.
She laughed dryly and nodded. "Yeah, I guess," she muttered and then put her fists on her cheeks. "It's right, I'm sure it is. It feels right," she said, taking a deep breath. "Adrien and I are just friends." she said, trying to convince herself.
Alya nodded, and then as her friend rested on the desk, she finally noticed the other person in the room, jaw dropping. She nibbled on her bottom lip before turning to Marinette. "Um.. girl, uh- see I don't think I'm the only one who.. knows.."
She blinked. "Huh? That's impossibllllllllleee..." she trailed off as she caught sight of the smirking blonde, her own jaw dropping. "Why didn't you say he was in here?!???" she asked Alya desperately.
"You brought me in here yourself, I didn't notice him until now too!" She whisper-shouted, as distressed as the blunette was. Felix stood up with a heavy sigh. "You didn't date Adrien but you sure ended up dating someone else. You should've told me I was up against strong competition," he chuckled darkly as he picked up his bag.
She glared at him, ignoring Alya for the moment. "You're not even in the competition, Felix," she said. "Not after eavesdropping on me and ruining my whole dat- er, hang out with Adrien yesterday," she crossed her arms.
The boy only feigned hurt, sadness painted all over his expression as his gaze fell to the ground, walking over to them. "And here I thought yesterday lunch could've been something," he whispered to himself with a sad smile, although it was loud enough for the both of them to hear. He looked back at her. "Well, first, I would've found out anyway, it's all over the news and everyone's talking about it. And second... I really didn't mean to ruin it. But I figured I should let you know... Adrien came home last night pretty happy and lovesick. If I didn't ruin anything, he could've been two-timing you with someone or something."
Her eyes widened in shock and she stared at him in disbelief. "You're lying," she whispered, shaking her head. "You're the biggest liar I know, save for Lila," she spat, stepping back from him. By this point, Alya had left the room, mostly because she didn't wanna get caught in the middle of this.
He could only look at her with a hurt expression, pressing his lips to a tight line as he shook his head. "When? When did I lie to you? If you think I'm lying about my feelings, that's on you but I've said nothing but truth," he said, looking away as he stepped back.
She scoffed, shaking her head. "No, no, you don't get to play the innocent card. You're literally known around here for lying, and quite frankly, I..." she paused, taking a deep breath. "I don't think you've changed at all. You're just as bad as you were a year ago."
He only smiled bitterly, shoulders hunching protectively around himself, rubbing his arm. "I see. Thanks for telling me, I guess," he met her eyes, his own glossed over with tears. "I hope you're happy with Chat," he said, before walking past her and out the classroom.
The sight of him tearing up made her rethink everything. That wasn't the reaction she was supposed to receive. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it again, looking at her feet with a sigh. She just sat down at her desk, deciding that if she did anything, she'd only make it worse, so she did nothing.
Alya stood by the door only, though, and she was surprised to see the boy walk out in a hurry, seemingly wiping his tears too. She tried to call out to him, then remembered Marinette, and she came back inside. "Marinette- what happened?" She asked, worried.
"I told him the truth," she answered blankly, staring at the wall, her palms on her cheeks. "That I don't think he's changed. He probably hasn't. He probably is just- just faking tears. He doesn't like me, he did the- the same thing with Ladybug last time, didn't he?!" she looked at Alya, brows knit together tightly. "He hasn't changed, Alya, and if you think he has, you're only being fooled!!"
Alya blinked, surprised at her friend's outburst. She wasn't the Marinette she knew, somehow. She knew her friend would have given him a second chance, hell, even third and fourth chances, but she had written him off so easily this time around. He was bothering her, in many more ways than the possibility of him faking his sincerity. "Marinette... don't you think it's unfair? You didn't have to... to write out who he is for him, though?"
She bit her lip and shook her head, a bitter look on her face. "I don't care," she whispered shakily as tears built in her eyes. "I hate him, and I'm sorry but I can't find it in my heart to trust him. I can't trust anyone, anyways," she scoffed and stood up, taking her bag. "Have a good day," she said, and quickly left the room, and then the school, deciding she didn't have the energy for this today.
Alya called out to her, even chased after her but decided the latter was far too firm in her decision and that none can make her waiver. For now. Just then she bumped into Nino, and she looked up at him worriedly. "Have you seen Adrien? Or Felix?"
Nino looked at her and then shrugged. "I dunno, I was getting a cinnamon roll, Alix brought some," he said, and held one to her lips. "Want a bite?" he asked, smiling sheepishly. "They're still warm."
She looked at the pastry, taking a small bite. Which surprisingly helped her calm down. A little. "Thank you," she said, swallowing down the bite. "But not the time. Marinette just walked out and class is about to begin and Felix walked out too and I don't know where Adrien is and they need- oh," she began rambling, but then she saw Adrien walking in. "Adrien!!!!!" She called, waving him over.
Nino was still busy trying to process her words as Adrien walked over. "Hey, is... is everything alright?" he asked, tilting his head in curiosity. "Have you seen Marinette by any chance? I- um- hey, what's that?" he asked, pointing to her phone screen that still showed the news article.
"You mean this?" She echoed and pointed to her phone, and then realized this was still on and hid it from Adrien. She knew he had feelings for Marinette, too. "Uh- it's nothing. But Marinette- she just walked out of here upset because Felix made her upset by being upset and?? She's not like herself at all! She said she can't trust anyone..." she pouted, holding onto Nino's arm a little too tightly amidst her explanation.
Nino was wincing in pain, but didn't want to make her upset so he stood there, his cheeks puffed out as he held back a whine. Adrien stared at them for a second and then laughed nervously. "Uh- Alya, I think you're- you're killing him-" he said, and then cleared his throat. "As for Marinette," his face suddenly went worried. "That's- that can't be true, I just fix-" he paused and bit his lip. "I mean... I thought she was fine?
"Oh, right-" she looked at her hold on Nino and apologized, loosening her grip and kissing his cheek. She sighed heavily, leaning on Nino's shoulder. "Apparently not. It's really worrying. What if she gets, I don't know, akumatized? She can't get akumatized!"
Adrien frowned and scratched his head, trying to think of what to do. He had an idea of where she was but he didn't want to show up uninvited in case she didn't want visitors and got angry, possibly akumatized. But he had to help her somehow. It was all interrupted though, when he heard his phone buzz. His heart dropped in his chest, recognizing the sound, and quickly fumbled with it, pulling out his phone and sighing when he saw it was only Gigantiton again. "I should get going, I have a test to make up."
Alya nearly panicked at the notification too, and sighed in relief when she saw the victim was nowhere them, nor anything Marinette. She nodded and waved him off. "Good luck on your test. Tell me if you see them," she said, pocketing back her phone as the bell rang.
Nino finished his cinnamon roll finally and as Adrien walked off, he looked at Alya, holding her hand. "On the bright side, at least she's not getting akumatized now, no?" he laughed softly.
Alya glared playfully at him, before chuckling softly. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Do you have any more of the cinnamon rolls?" She asked, looking at his now empty hand and pouted, glaring at him for reals this time. "You didn't leave me some!"
"Oh calm down!" he said, waving his hands in the air and then as he pulled one that was wrapped in a napkin in his pocket, did a little 'magic trick' type thing where he pulled it out of her ear somehow. "I got you another one," he smiled and kissed her cheek, handing it to her.
She blinked and took the roll from his hand, laughing. "You nerd," she mocked, kissing his cheek as well and began eating as they entered the class. At least they had an async period.
Meanwhile, Marinette had also heard the akuma alert, and as much as she really didn't want to do this, she had to, so she begrudgingly transformed and yo-yoed off to find the victim and her partner (now both professionally and romantically), although she wasn't exactly excited for it this time, for some reason. She reached the place and swung up next to Chat, refusing eye contact and watching the big baby.
"Hey there m'lady, this is gonna be a piece of cake, isn't it? Same pla-" he began as soon as he saw the spotted hero, but then the villain in question started crying some more, reaching for the two heroes. "Cake!! CAKEEEEE!!" The giant baby screamed.
"Oh for crying out loud, you had to bring up cake?!" she hissed, jumping away and dodging the huge chubby hand. "Can't you be useful just one time instead of messing around?! Just stop talking and do what you're supposed to do!!" she exclaimed, and though she felt horrible for saying those things, she didn't have the patience to deal with him like this.
Okay, that one stung. And he knew better, so he wasn't going to press on whatever was making her upset now, only following her orders. After all, he wasn't that hung up on her anymore, and half his mind was still on Marinette, worried yet in love all the same to even pay any attention to Ladybug.
With a few strokes of luck and a little bit of tempting the huge baby, they were finally able to get August out of his akumatized form, capturing the akuma and releasing the butterfly. When they'd finished though, she couldn't get her own words out of her head. She didn't deserve Chat. Not after all this time, after she still treated him like that. She sat on the corner of a roof and cried, disregarding her slowly beeping earrings.
Chat Noir was about to flee the scene, his own miraculous beeping for the second time - he barely had three minutes left - but he saw Ladybug on the roof and concern washed over him. He sighed and landed on the same roof. "Ladybug? Everything peachy?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood.
She paused, hearing his voice, but refused to move her head, her face drowned out with tears. "I'm fine," she whispered. "You can go."
"Yeah, I am about to transform soon... but so are you. In a minute too. And you're not doing anything at all so you don't seem fine," he said and sat down on the other side of the chimney where she sat against. "Wanna talk?"
"I can't," she said softly, closing her eyes. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine, I'm just overreacting probably," she muttered, shrugging lightly. "And if you see me, darn, I have to give up my miraculous. At least I'll forget all of this," she muttered to herself the last part.
He knew she said something in addition to the last one, a little concerned she's said it so silently. "What do you mean you can't?"
"I mean, it's about my personal life. You can't know, and I can't tell you," she said gruffly, closing her eyes. "Anyways. I saw you moved on."
"Oh," he said, a small smile painting his lips. His miraculous beeped a third time, and he fiddled with his ring. "Yeah. She's.... amazing. You know, don't you?"
I beg to differ, she thought to herself but smiled. "Mhm, she looks perfect," she said softly. 
"She is," he giggled sheepishly, looking up at the sky as he thought about Marinette. Lovely, smiling Marinette. "I hope it's alright with you. That I'm dating someone. She... she doesn't know about my identity yet, too."
She smiled slightly and closed her eyes, leaning back on the wall. "It's fine by me. Just... be careful, okay?" she replied, and suddenly her transformation wore off and she was left detransformed. "Hey, um... don't look here, okay?" she asked, digging through her bag for a cookie.
"Never without your permission," he chuckled softly and muttered his detransformation too, catching an exhausted Plagg on his palm, giving him a slice of Camembert.
Soon the heroes got recharged and went home, and Marinette, being stressed out and a bit annoyed, decided to go on a walk to clear her thoughts, but what she didn't know was that a certain blonde already was at the park where she was headed.