Marinette's classmates ran outside. It took them long enough for them to realize what kind of friends they were.
Stupid.
There was going to be no forgiveness for them.
They realized how they took the word of a girl they barely knew and never checked their sources.
Alya especially.
She should have been there for her when Marinette would cry all alone in the bathrooms. Did she? No. She didn't. It was really cruel how she had come to trust her best friend. And turning her into this monster.
Lila was almost bad as Chloe but worse. Lying and having everyone turn against her.
Again, they all felt guilty, never really wanting to hurt her. It wasn't their intention to hurt her. Now it didn't matter and they all knew that this wasn't going to be the end of her. So far, other than Scarlet Moth and whoever was behind his power was the strongest akuma ever. They saw how she fought with only a flick of her wrist. How could they even prove themselves? By what? Sacrificing her to the great Miss ForgetMeNot? Probably the most messed up thing to do, but what other choice did they have?
And the recent news that there had been very few sightings of Ladybug or Chat Noir, but sightings of Queen Bee.
Lila on the other hand was sitting on the ground with a sad sigh that her Adrien was gone. Her boyfriend Adrien, would soon find out the truth. That being how she cheated him into dating her. She had him fall right into her clutches and proved to him she was far prettier than Ladybug. She'd lied about helping everyone where she used to live. She had practically pretended to have the qualities of Ladybug, but she truly didn't. Her lies had begun unraveling and she was still in that state that everyone was ignoring her and treating her as if she was never there.
She attempted to reach out to Rose who backed away from her.
Despite Rose's kind nature, she couldn't help, but stay away from her and watch her suffer. Even Rose would suffer herself and she knew that. She had already gotten hurt, herself. No physical injuries were on her, but guilt grew on her. "You deserve this!"
Queen Bee landed in the school, holding Luka and Chat Noir who held Kagami. So far the only people who could fix this were Chloe/Queen Bee, Kagami, or Luka.
Each had different views of what they thought of Lila.
Especially Luka. He had been far more concerned about her than anyone else. He had remembered those times where she'd be at his home in tears. He would hold her every time she was sad. He loved holding her and comforting her with a gentle strum of his guitar. Having Marinette calm down and tell him everything, he wanted to do something, but every time he would speak up, he understood how every one of her friends would deny him every word. He could also sense that Lila was lying. No. Not sense. He could just look at her and immediately tell she wasn't a good person. Every time he'd confront her, she'd play the victim and fall into the arms of Adrien.
Although Marinette had a crush on this Adrien guy, he couldn't help, but wonder 'What kind of idiot would break her heart like this and claim love for a complete stranger?' He stood up straight as Queen Bee set her down. "Thank you," he said kindly to her. He also gave a disapproving look to his sister Juleka. Luka was disappointed in her.
Kagami was set down on her feet. Those times she didn't help Marinette, she was always supporting Adrien. She noticed how his behavior changed to something she didn't even know. She had stopped talking to Adrien and checked in with the girl he thought he was going for. Not Lila. Unlike Lila, Marinette put everyone first before herself. She noticed how she put them all out of danger and put herself in danger. Almost like Ladybug.
There were an awful lot of similarities between the two.
Chat Noir knew how much he had changed. He was so sorry, but now he needed to prove himself he loved this girl over Lila. He finally understood why no one liked her. Those people being Chloe, Kagami, and Luka. He needed to beg for forgiveness. There was probably going to be no forgiveness towards him.
The Queen had punched Chat's shoulder.
"Ow!" he said out loud.
"You have no idea how much all of you hurt her. You didn't even consider how much hurt she was in. How we three had to make sure she felt like she was believed in. You all treated her like sh*t while Lila was around." Luka crossed his arms. He wasn't about to forgive anyone else unless they actually meant it. He wouldn't even believe his own sister who he knew felt guilty too. "Most of you knew her for years. Why would Marinette lie to her friends? She's not the type of person who would do that." he wasn't one who said much, but awfully cared about her so much that he would be lying awake at night, wondering if he should go to her home and play some video games with her.
"I'm sorry.." Alya said. She looked down. "You're right and I regret not being there for my girl."
"Is that honestly all you can say?" Kagami spoke up. She kept her posture up straight and tall. "Especially you, Chat Noir. A little sorry doesn't work at this point. No matter how many times you say sorry to her, the word will be useless."
There was silence amongst all of them.
LBCNLBCN
Marinette knocked at the door of where Juleka and Luka lived. She fought back the will to cry when Anarka Couffaine, Juleka and Luk's mother, answered the door. She told Anarka that she wanted to see if Luka was around for her and him to talk. The bluentte attempted also not to have her voice shake while being in front of another adult.
With her own parents, they had comforted her when they heard the news from their daughter that her crush was dating someone else. Her father was angry and he couldn't just stand there and watch his daughter cry herself to sleep every night. She had pretended to be okay. The constant lies that Lila told her classmates made her not want to go to school anymore.
Other than Chloe, no one else would miss her.
"He's up in his room," Anarka replied. She moved aside, allowing Marinette to go up to his room.
She held her bag close to her chest and looked down. She felt she had no one else. Luka was there for her at least. She could have gotten his phone number to tell him that she was coming over, but he didn't really like those sorts of things and focused on his music.
Marinette seemed distressed as it was. There hadn't been any akuma after her yet. She gently knocked on the door, only to find that the door was already open. "Luka?.." she said with a soft voice.
She heard the gentle strum of his guitar. How it would stop when she entered his room. She enjoyed that sound, making her way towards him and sit next to him. She had set her things at the end of his bed.
"What's wrong, Marinette?" he asked her as he set his guitar to the side. He could see how she was shaking and close to crying. "Let it out," he said gently.
She burst into tears. She had been destroyed by that Lila. The fact that she saw Adrien and Lila flirt, kiss, and have those long hugs she always wanted to make her heartbreak.
Tikki had tried to remind Marinette that she had to think positive so that an akuma wouldn't go after her. She understood that Marinette needed human contact. Someone that was good at comforting. A person who believed in Marinette and thought that she was great.
"It's this girl name Lila Rossi.." she started off. "She's been telling lies about me..turning all my friends against me.." she covered her face.
He pulled her into his chest. "How long has this been going on?"
"A month.." she said. It wasn't that she was only distressed about that, but Chloe hadn't really helped her.
Sure Chloe had b*ch slapped Lila's cheek, only to get herself detention, but get out of it with a call to her father. She learned from Marinette that Lila kissed her best friend.
Lila was moved near Adrien while Marinette was moved to the back again.
She sobbed into him and he held her close. "I'm sorry.." was all she could say. He didn't like seeing her hurt like this. He also had a feeling that this Lila girl manipulated Adrien into being with her. So far what he knew of this model, he wouldn't just pick everyone.
Adrien Agreste. The boy could have anyone he wanted just by his looks.
Marinette had a kind heart.
Her being herself made him happy.
Not that he was really interested in the news really, he checked up on who Lila Rossi was. There wasn't any record of her except for the Ladyblog. Supposedly, that liar and Ladybug were best friends. The last time he checked, Marinette and Ladybug were best friends. He couldn't believe this Lila girl. He didn't like to get into conflicts either. Luka rubbed her back gently with one hand and grabbed a light blue box of tissues to give to her. "I believe you, Marinette." he set a hand of his under his chin to have her look up at him. With his other hand, he cleared away her tears with his fingers. "Don't lose hope. At least for me, okay?"
She nodded and grabbed a tissue from the tissue box. "Thanks.." she muttered. She meant it. The bluenette gave him a small smile.
"There's the Marinette I know," he said gently. He smiled back too. "You can come over whenever you want, princess." he didn't know that was the nickname Chat Noir called her.
But the reason why he thought of her as a princess was because of how brave she was. He was awed by her. And he would do anything for her. Even if he had to sacrifice his life in order for her to live.
During that time, Chat had called her some very bad names. As being Ladybug, she kind of set him aside. She wasn't going to intentionally hurt him. That's not what kind of person she was anyways.
"Thank you." she couldn't help, but place a kiss on his cheek like she had done with him after the events of Frozer. Marinette pulled out a small box of macaroons and offered a few to him.
He took one. "Did you cook this?"
"Yeah..sorry if it's bad."
He took a bite of it. "This is excellent. Don't put yourself down like that." he let go of her.
And she left that box of macaroons on his bed, picked up her things, waved at him, and was on her way.
During that whole time, Chat Noir had been watching. How come Marinette didn't go to him when she was sad? He hadn't heard anything the two said. His stomach growled when he saw those small bakery treats.
Lila was a very nice girl. He understood how she just wanted everything. "She doesn't lie," he mumbled to himself. Neither does Marinette. He shook his head as he recalled all of the nice memories he had with Marinette. Was he really going to go for Lila instead of a girl that literally helped him hide from the public? Someone who helped him see the movies where his mother starred? He sighed and looked back to see Marinette walking out of the boat. He didn't have time to spend with her. He needed to get on with his duties as a hero. And currently, that duty was patrol. He went on his way.