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“I didn’t want to do this but...” Lila pouted, hands coming to her chest like it was physically hurting her to talk, which it didn’t, or else Marinette wouldn’t have to hear her voice basically everytime she was in a room with her. Oh, dare to dream. “I can’t let you keep clinging to Adrien without him knowing the truth.”
Well that was rich, seeing as she was the one literally hanging off of Adrien’s arm whenever she could, completely ignoring the models protests. But yeah, Marinette was the one clinging to him. The hypocrisy was strong with this one.
Adrien, in front of her, frowned. “What are you talking about, Lila?”
“Marinette has a crush on you!” she blurted out, and immediately brought a hand to her mouth, as if shocked at her own words. Seriously, give this girl an Oscar. Or like, beat her over the head with an Oscar. Whichever worked.
Marinette raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. “So?”
Lila seemed taken aback by her nonchalance, but recovered quickly enough. “She is a stalker!” she continued, looking at Adrien, “she has pictures of you all over her room, has your schedule printed out, follows you around and spies on you! She even stole your phone once!”
Marinette turned to glare at Alya, who didn’t even have the decency to look remorseful at the total betrayal of trust. Honestly, Marinette should know better than to expect Alya to keep any secret at this point. She made the right decision about not giving her the fox miraculous anymore. She turned back to Lila, crossing her arms.
“That’s none of your business. I don’t have to give you any explanations.”
“Adrien is my friend!” Lila cried, and Marinette saw Adrien’s face sour, but he refrained from correcting her. No, you are not my friend, I don’t like you, leave me alone. He was going to have to say it eventually, they both knew, but Adrien was too passive for his own good sometimes. “I’m looking out for him, I don’t want him to put up with you without knowing who you really are and what you want from him!”
Marinette rolled her eyes so far that she could almost see a little of her brain. “Like I said, I don’t owe you any explanations. The only one I have to explain myself to is Adrien, and he already knows all of this.”
Lila’s eyes widened, and she whipped around to look at him. Adrien shrugged. “Yeah, Marinette explained everything a while ago.”
“What? And- And you are ok with this?!”
“She apologized for what she did and she’s changed. Besides, I used to be just as bad with my crushes.”
Marinette’s mind provided the image of the hundred Ladybug-themed things in Adrien’s room, including but not limited to a Ladybug pajama, bed sheets and life-sized cardboard cutout. Yeah, they were both pretty creepy.
“What happened between me and Adrien is between the two of us. And I don’t care if you ‘wanted to look out for him’ of whatever, but there was no need to try to embarrass me in public,” Marinette gestured to the classroom, where every single one of her classmates where listening in to the exchange. “Next time, either mind your own business or approach Adrien or me in private.”
“I just didn’t want you to try to weasel your way out of it or lie about what I said.”
Projecting, huh, Lila?
“Then you approach Adrien so he can decide what to do with the information. This is the type of things that get people akumatized.”
Lila’s eyes widened. “I would never! Ladybug is my best friend, I wouldn’t do that to her!”
Wow, she really had been trying to get her akumatized, wasn’t she? What was this, the 13th attempt? Lila needed to get a new a hobby.
Also, Ladybug absolutely hated her.
“Yeah well, it doesn’t look like it. Also, Lila? Don’t make claims about things you know nothing about. You weren’t there for any of it, and the information Alya gave you, completely violating my trust in the process, is from a secondary source. Which I’m sure you know, since you two are friends and Alya is a reporter, so she knows the importance of getting facts straight from a primary source. Right, Alya?”
Alya nodded, jaw clenched. The multiple interviews featuring Lila in the Ladyblog begged to differ.
“Anyways, if that’s all you wanted, then I’m leaving. Adrien you coming over for lunch?”
Adrien, who she now noticed was smiling widely, nodded enthusiastically, and offered her his elbow to grab onto, which she gladly took, smiling back. Together, they left the classroom, Marinette feeling extremely satisfied with herself.
“Have I told you recently that you are my favorite person ever?” Adrien said once they walked out of the school.
“Only everyday,” she said back, teasingly.
“I’m serious. You’re amazing, my lady.”
“Thanks, kitty. I refuse to give Lila the satisfaction of getting a rise out of me anymore. Besides, she can’t use you against me ever again.”
“You and me against the world?”
“Always.”