Jerk in Sheep's Clothing

Looming Threat

Adrien arrived back on campus from his latest photoshoot.  The shoot had only lasted an hour, but to Adrien, it had felt like it had taken a whole day.  His head had been spinning the entire time, thoughts and memories of Henri's deception of Ivan swirling in his mind.  He could not shake the nasty feeling that tingled all over his body at the thought of the brunette boy.

As soon as he entered, he saw Marinette sitting on a bench with Henri, tending to his bandaged ankle.  She looked up at her boyfriend and smiled like an angel, her bluebell eyes glittering with gentility.  A flash of something unfamiliar panged through Adrien's heart, but it didn't feel like anger.  It felt like...jealousy?  He wanted to be in Henri's place, to be sitting with her, to have her tend to him, to look at him with that lovely smile and those glittering eyes.

"Adrien!"

He was pulled out of his confusing daze by the sound of his name on her lips.  She smiled and waved him over towards her and Henri, who stared at him with a stony expression.  Adrien walked over and started his role of the supportive friend.  "Hey, guys!  Henri, how's your ankle doing?"

"Dunno.", said the brunette boy with a shrug.  "There was a...incident at lunch."

"What kind of an incident?", asked Adrien.

Marinette's eyes narrowed.  "Adrien, you wouldn't believe it!  Alya told the whole class that Henri was faking his ankle injury!  She said she saw him standing fine in the hallway.  Then, Kim deliberately threw a paper football at him to get him up on his feet!"

Adrien's stomach churned.  "And...what happened?"

"Well, Henri here risked his injury to get up and catch the football, to save my face from getting a paper cut."  She smiled at her boyfriend dreamily.  "He was so brave."

Adrien suppressed the urge to scowl in disapproval.

"But now Henri's hurting even more, and its all because our so-called friends are acting like a bunch of immature toddlers!"  Marinette folded her arms over her chest and huffed.  "I mean, I know firsthand they could be nasty when they wanted to...but I didn't think they'd act like this to Henri!  I mean, what do they have against him?"

Adrien's peridot-green eyes shifted back and forth between her and Henri, before finally resting on her.  "Uh...Marinette?  Can I talk to you?  In private?"

Marinette looked a touch confused, but said, "Um...okay.  I guess." She leaned over and kissed Henri gently on the cheek.  "Be right back."

Adrien felt that jealous feeling sting him once more before leading Marinette away to a secluded corner where he was sure Henri couldn't hear them.

"What do you wanna talk about, Adrien?", she asked him innocently.

Adrien took a deep breath in before he spoke.  "Marinette, I don't think you should trust him is blindly."

She looked a tad hurt at that statement.  "What?  Why not?"

Adrien grimaced before he went on.  "I don't think he's all that he appears to be."

Marinette shook her head.  "Adrien, why would you think that?"

Adrien looked uncomfortable.  "Its just...ever since he got here, he's been giving me bad vibes.  I can't put my finger on it...there's just something about him that rubs me the wrong way.  I can't look at him without getting a bad feeling in my gut."