Adrien looked through his satchel, gathering his things for class, when Marinette skipped into the classroom, grinning like the cat that got the cream, and humming a happy tune under her breath. Nino, sitting next to Adrien, saw her upbeat demeanor and smiled back. "Well, someone's in a good mood today!", he remarked. Marinette nodded. "I sure am! Where's Alya? I want her to hear this!" "She's running a lil' late.", said Nino. "Why? Whaddaya want her to hear?"
Marinette looked towards the doorway as Henri walked into the classroom, and Adrien had to try and quell his sick stomach once again. "I have a big announcement!", Marinette cried, facing the whole class, who all responded by scooting to the edge of their seats, watching their class representative with wide eyes to show they were listening.
Adrien's green eyes took on a tinge of shock when Marinette reached over and took Henri's hand, lacing his fingers with her own. Her eyes were soft as she looked up at him. Adrien gulped. He wasn't sure what she would say next, but he had a feeling he wasn't going to like it. Marinette looked back her friends and declared, "As of yesterday afternoon, Henri and I are an official couple!"
Adrien felt as if the ground had collapsed under him, leaving to fall into a never-ending vortex of darkness. A black hole opened in his chest, threatening to shallow everything there. He became numb to everything around him. The only thing he could feel was his heart pounding heavily, so hard that he could hear it in his ears.
The rest of the class, however, looked surprised. They had known for a while that Marinette had been in love with Adrien. How had things changed so fast? Still, she seemed happy enough, beaming at Henri. It was best they not come between that. Nino coughed. "That's great, Marinette! Your first boyfriend! This is a big deal."
"Yeah, Marinette!", added Nathaniel. "We're really happy for you." "I think you two make such a cute couple!", Rose swooned romantically. "I gotta admit, Dupain-Cheng,", said Chloe. "You picked a good one. That kid's a real catch." Marinette smiled as the class showered her and Henri woth sweet words of support. All but one.
She saw Adrien sitting in the fromt row, his head bowed. "Adrien?" He looked up, jolting as if he had just awoken suddenly from a nightmare. If only this was a nightmare and not reality, he thought. "Adrien? You've been awfully quiet." Adrien hesitated to answer. Marinette's bluebell eyes were soft, like those of a puppy, silently pleading for his approval of her relationship. How could he tell Marinette that he didn't like Henri? That he didn't feel her boyfriend could be trusted?
No, he could not ruin this for her. He had seen the way she had looked at Henri before she had made the announcement. Like he was the only boy she had ever seen. All he had to back him up on his distrust of Henri was a bad feeling in his gut. That was not enough to convince Adrien to oppose his new relationship with Marinette.
So instead of telling Marinette how he really felt about her new boyfriend, Adrien plastered on a smile, tht fake smile that he had put on so many times, that he had mastered feigning through years of living with his father, and spoke his lines flawlessly, as if they took no effort, when in reality, it was taking everything he had keep up the charade of happiness. "I'm really glad for you, Marinette. Henri is...really lucky to have you."
Her bluebell eyes lit up at his answer, giving him that smile, that sweet, gentle smile that made it all worth it. "Thank you, Adrien. Coming from you...that means a lot to me." He kept his smile on as he looked up at her, silently chanting in his head, its for Marinette, its for Marinette. No one could fake being okay better than Adrien Agreste.
"Oh, by the way.", Nino chimed in. "Lila's gonna be out fir the rest of the week. Her mon had a last minute mission. So you can sit in your old seat if you want." Marinette smiled and nodded. She looked back at Henri, eyes silently requesting permission. He smirked and nodded. Pecking him on the cheek, Marinette ducked under her boyfriend's arm and slid back into her old seat, welcoming it's presence like that of a long-lost friend.
When she reached to get her notebook, she felt someone slide in next to her. She looked back, expecting to see Alya, but was met with Henri's handsome face instead. Marinette blinked a few times. "Henri, you can't sit there. That's Alya's seat." Henri shrugged. "I'm sure she won't mind." Marinette frowned a bit, her pretty eyebrows knitting together. "We should ask her first."
Henri frowned at this. "Why are you so against this? Didn't she do the same to you? Push you out of your seat so she could sit with her boyfriend?" Nino, who had been listening in, sat upright when he heard that. Henri was bringing up painful memories and grudges from the past so he could still sit with his girlfriend. Nino shut his eyes tight, expecting Marinette to agree.
She didn't.
"No, Henri.", she said irritably. "I can't do that to Alya. What, she hurts me, so I hurt her back?" "You know what they say, baby.", Henri told her. "An eye for an eye." "You know what else they say?", she added. "An eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind. Hurting Alya back wouldn't do any good. It'd just make me a petty person. And I'm not a petty person.
She took a deep breath. "Look, you can sit there until Alya gets back. Then you can ask her if its okay for you to sit there. If she says no, please move to a different seat." As she turned her attention to the inside of her purse, Adrien and Nino exchanged wary looks.
Seconds later, Alya came running inti the classroom, weary and out of breath. "Sorry I'm late. I overslept editing the Lady..." She lifted her head to see someone else sitting in her seat next to Marinette. "...blog." Her eyes narrowed behind her glasses at Henri, who shot her a nasty smirk. Marinette didn't notice, as she was writing in her notebook.
Alya approached her friend meekly, worried about what she thought was happening. "Marinette?" She looked up, and her pink lips formed an O shape. "Oh! Alya, you're back!" She pointed her pen at her boyfriend beside her. "I told Henri he could sit there until you got back!" Alya sighed in relief. Her worst fears had been debunked.
Henri leaned over and looked at Alya. "You don't mind if we switch seats, right?" Under normal circumstances, Alya might have been willing. But there was something about the look he was giving her, a look that Marinette did not see as she was looking at Alya, that did not sit right with her. Reluctantly, Alya forced out uncertainly, "Uh...I mind a little?"
It was then that Henri's face turned deadly. His face hardened in seconds, and his narrowed eyes took on a sort of glare that made Alya feel cold all over her body. "Why not?", he said, in a tone that was like ice. "You certainly had no problem pushing her to the back so you could sit with your boyfriend."
The silence that followed was louder than if they had all been screaming at the top of their lungs. The three were now the center of attention in the classroom. Wide eyes and wide jaws accompanied almost every face gathered around. The only face that was different was Henri's. He was smirking at Alya in the exact same way Chloe had in the past when she mocked one of her peers.
Alya's face pinched as she stared at Henri. "I...Lila needed the front seat, because of her tinnitus!" Henri looked unmoved. "Marinette didn't sit in the front seat. Nino did." He jerked a thumb towards the capped boy sitting in front of him. "So why couldn't he move to the back? Why did he have to take Marinette's seat?"
Alya fekt like she just got puncjed in the gut. The memories he had mentioned replayed in her head, and realization hit her like a ton of bricks—Henri was right. There was no excuse for what they had done. They didn't need to kick Marinette out of her seat just so Lila could sit in the front row. A wave of shame washed over the auburn-haired girl like a tsumani.
She glanced over at Nino, who now wore the same face she did. A face of guilt. Faced with their mistakes and explanations of it, they had suddenly realized what jerks they had been, pushing aside their close friend just so they could sit together. Alya, the girl who always had a new scoop to announce, questions to ask, a gift fir words, was suddenly speechless.
Marinette was shocked at her boyfriend's behavior. "Henri! That wasn't nice! I told you I wasn't pushing Alya out of her seat! I forgave her for that." Alya's heart both melted and broke. She felt grateful and awful at the same time. She had done something nasty to Marinette, and she still refused to give her a dose of her own medicine, even though Alya would not have blamed her in the slightest if she had.
"No, Mari...", she said softly as Marinette turned around. "He's got a point. I...it was wrong of me to do that. Push you out without your permission. I should have said this sooner...I'm really sorry." Marinette looked sad. "Its okay, Alya. Really, it is. But that doesn't mean I should do the same to you. I'm not that kinda girl."
Alya faked a smile. "Its okay, Marinette. Henri can sit with you. I can go to the back." Marinette's eyes grew sad. "Are you sure?" Another prick. She was so certain not to subject Alya to some karma. She did not deserve Marinette as a friend. Shaking her head, the brunette said in the sweetest tone possible, "Yeah, its fine. I came in late anyway."
Marinette's sad eyes followed Alya as she trudged up the steps to the back of the classroom. She was pulled out of her fantasies by Henri's hand on her shoulder. She looked back at her smiling boyfriend. "See? Toldja she wouldn't mind." Marinette frowned. "After you brought up the past.", she added bitterly. "I told you I wasn't mad at her anymore. And even if I was, that doesn't give you permission to exact revenge. This is between me and Alya."
Henri's face looked sorrowful. "Oh...you're right, baby. I'm really sorry. I'll apologize to her after class. Promise." She looked doubtful as he kissed her on the cheek, but sighed and gave him a sort of smile. "Okay...as long as you're sorry." She smirked. "You're lucky I like you so much." "I sure am.", he confirmed.
Madame Bustier came into the classroom and noticed the new seating arrangement. As Alya explained to her that she was okay switching seats, Adrien replayed the memory of Henri sneering at her over and over again in his mind's eye. He recognized the smirk he had given her. It was the exact same look Henri had given him the day they first saw each other.
At first, Adrien had thought that maybe it had all been in his head. But now...maybe that bad feeling he had about Henri wasn't just jealousy after all.