King, Queen, Liar

To Conquer His Heart

Lila Rossi smiled to herself as she updated her status. Her glee was ugly and selfish as her face twisted into a mangled smile. Or maybe that's just what it looked like to Adrien as he glared up at her from his sitting position on his bed.

Dark circles under his eyes showed he was tired. Tired and weak. That was the main reason any of this had happened.

His own phone was ringing in his hand from the onslaught of messages he was receiving after his own update merely two minutes ago but he couldn't bare to look at it because that would be acknowledging what had just happened. What he had done.

Feeling sick, he looked away from the girl in front of him grinning to herself like she'd won. To her she had but to him he'd lost everything and all she could do was gloat about her new relationship. She disgusted him.

His lip curled in anger at the helpless feeling swelling in his chest like an angry tide. A whirlpool of emotion that felt like it would drown him. It was so loud in his head and all he wanted to do was sleep and cry.

"Adrien." Lila purred, stepping so she was directly in front of him. He swallowed the feelings growing inside of him and looked up, a look of resentment in his eyes, to meet her victorious, gleaming green orbs.
"What?" He all but snarled, shadows crossing his face as he struggled to hold back from screaming at this girl in front of him.
"That's no way to speak to me." She snapped, "Watch your tone or soon everyone will know your true identity, Chat Noir." She smirked, knowing she had the upper hand.

His chest deflated, sadness in his eyes as he cleared his throat.
"What?" His voice was quiet, a nondescript tone had taken over making him almost robotic.
"I have to go now, but I'm glad we had this talk. I'm glad you came to your senses and chose to be with me." Her emphasis on the word 'chose' reminded him that he had chosen this. To be with her or to have his secret spilled and, right now, he still couldn't decide which was worse.

He was pretty sure he'd soon find out though.

Suddenly her lips were on his, her fingers grasping his chin so he couldn't pull away. It was a forceful kiss, one that stripped away the last flecks of his dignity. Then she left, flicking her hair over her shoulder. He hated her down to his very core in that moment and some part of him wanted to grab her stupid hair and slam her face into the wall.

He could imagine it happening, he watched himself do it in his mind. Then he did it over and over again until her face was a mess of blood and bruises. It would wipe the triumph from her gaze and replace it with the pain and fear he himself was feeling.

Then the bedroom door clicked shut and she was gone.

Plagg came out from Adrien's school bag, the small kwami quiet for once. His eyes were wide and worried as he watched for Adrien's reaction to the scene that had just unfolded before him. Adrien refused to meet the kwami's eye, embarrassment at his situation causing him to close off.

Plagg sighed and opened his mouth, but Adrien quickly glanced up, pain flashing in his eyes as he yanked the ring from his finger. Surprise burst into Plagg's eyes as he disappeared.

Adrien put the ring under his finger, looking at the tan lines from where the ring had been. He'd worn it every day since he'd become Chat Noir and he could almost still feel the cold metal against his skin like a ghost imprint. It just reminded him of everything he'd done wrong.

Adrien turned the tv on to full volume, the news report was on him and Ladybug and their latest battle with Hawkmoth's akumatised villain.

A tear slipped down his cheek, followed by another as his breathing turned ragged. The battle had been a particularly easy one, finished quickly enough that he had been home in less than half an hour. Lila wasn't meant to be there.

After coming in through the window, he'd detransformed, still on a high from the latest win. Then he'd seen her stood there, her phone out and recording.

"No." His voice had cracked, his hand reaching out to grab the phone as fast as he could. Lila was faster.

Snatching her phone away from him, she had a malicious grin warping her pretty features.

"So you're Chat Noir then, I never would've guessed."
"You can't tell anyone!" He cried in desperation.
"Wrong, I can." She said matter-of-factly, "But.. I won't. If you become my boyfriend."

He was pretty sure his jaw had hit the floor at this. She was.. bribing him into dating her with the promise of keeping his secret. He'd known she was manipulative but had never imagined this would ever happen to him.

Adrien sank to his knees as he stared at the tv screen, Nadja congratulating the superhero duo before moving on. He didn't feel good anymore. Only helpless as he curled up and cried.