Chapter 9

With only 5 minutes left until class ended for lunch Adrien needed to come up with a plan.

Chloe had already put away her tablet and was tapping her nails impatiently against the desk in a manner that usually preceded another attempt to latch on to him as soon as it was socially acceptable to do so. Meanwhile Lila had been trying to catch his attention all morning, though he had deliberately avoided her gaze. He was having enough trouble ridding his mind of the simultaneously disturbing and arousing mental images brought on by Ladybug's comments the other night about sharing, and the last thing he wanted to do was end up a flustered stammering mess in front of Lila. There was no way that wouldn't blow up in his face.

He had two choices- either rush out of the classroom as quickly as possible and hide in wait to catch Marinette without being ambushed himself, or go the direct approach and catch her at her desk before she or anyone else had a chance to move.

He could do it. Even when not transformed his reflexes were incredibly quick. He would just have to time it right.

2 minutes to go.

He began surreptitiously putting away his belongings. Leaving his things unattended at his desk would just be an invitation to hijack his time and attention.

1 minute.

He slid to the far side of his desk, ready to pounce.

He was on his feet and bounding up the steps the second the bell began to sound. He stopped next to Marinette's desk where she was obliviously gathering up her own supplies, took a deep breath and-

"Adrien! Thank God you're here today bro, please say we go out for lunch today."

Damn it.

…

40 minutes later Adrien listened halfheartedly to a second, and somewhat less dramatic, retelling of the previous day's drama while sandwiched between Nino and Lila at a nearby café.

He had tried to invite Marinette along to join them, but unfortunately she had been dragged off by a glowering Alya before she had even gotten a chance to reply.

It seemed that Chloe's assessment that the class had been split in two had been essentially accurate, although it seemed the larger issue for everyone except Nino was the question of whether or not the akuma victims should or could be held accountable for what they had done or said while transformed. Somehow Chat Noir had become the face of their movement- whether because it was easier to band together behind Nino against the terrifying alliance that was Alya and Chloe or because they felt that Chat would be sympathetic to their side due to his own multiple brain washings Adrien couldn't say.

"So anyways," Nino said, as Adrien tried to focus back in on the conversation, "we decided to form the official Chat Noir fanclub, because drama aside, people really don't appreciate that he does just as much for this city as Ladybug does."

Adrien couldn't stop the pleased smile and grateful blush that crept across his face. "Wow that's… that's really amazing Nino."

"I mean, I know it's not much but it's gotta be kinda rough for the poor guy," Nino added thoughtfully. "I mean you do all this work, running around saving the city, not to mention getting the living tar beaten out of you on a regular basis, and yet all the credit goes to your partner. It just doesn't seem right."

"Absolutely," Lila nodded emphatically, "he deserves to be loved just as much as Ladybug."

"I think Chat Noir will be touched that people think so highly of him," Adrien said quietly. "Maybe he doesn't need all the attention or the merchandise, but knowing that people like you guys appreciate him… I think it would make it all seem worth it."

"People like us you mean," Kim chimed in from his side of the table, "you're the treasure of this little club Agreste."

"Right," Adrien laughed, taking a long swig of water and hoping his embarrassment wasn't too obvious.

"So Max you said you could cover the website, Nathaniel do you think you could work with him on the layout? Maybe get some art or something for the page?"

"Yeah, no problem."

"Kim, Alix, you two are in charge of merchandise and advertising. We need ideas for what sort of stuff we can put together to promote the cause and hopefully raise awareness and get others involved.

"Sure thing boss," Kim saluted to Nino. "Agreste we need 200 Euro for start up costs."

"What?"

"You're the treasurer fork over the dough," Kim said holding out his hand expectantly.

"You have got to be kidding me," Adrien muttered, but he still pulled out his wallet. It wasn't like he was spending any of his modeling income anyways. Besides it was extremely flattering to see his friends banded together in support of his alter ego. Who cared if the money ended up getting put to good use or not.

"Here," he said pulling out some bills, "you can have 100. That should be plenty for whatever you have in mind."

Alix leaned forward and snatched it out of his hand before Kim had a chance.

"Don't worry I'll make sure he doesn't blow it all on something stupid," she grinned.

"Great," Nino said, making some more notes on his tablet. "I'll handle the rest of the social media accounts, which leave you two-" he glanced at Adrien and Lila- "in charge of content. Think you could manage to get something together by Sunday so that we can launch the site by then? Pictures, press clippings, maybe a basic write up or something?"

"I think I can handle the pictures," Adrien said trying not to smirk.

"It won't be a problem at all," Lila added. "Adrien, you and I could get together this weekend and work on it."

"Uh…" he shifted uncomfortably as Lila sidled up against him. He grabbed his water glass and took another drink to avoid answering her.

"You know, I am sure Mari would love to help too if she isn't being dragged around by her other friends," Lila said spitting out the last word like it was something foul, "she really likes Chat Noir too you know."

"Yeah," Adrien replied, unable to stop the lovesick smile from breaking out across his face as he thought again about just how much Marinette did in fact like him. Her crush, he was her crush!

He took another sip.

"Perhaps Mari could join us this weekend," Lila continued thoughtfully, "I will probably have the house to myself on Saturday and I am sure the three of us could come up with something exciting."

Adrien spat out his drink as his conversation with Ladybug sprang back into his mind.

"Dude are you ok?" Nino asked whacking him on the back.

"Yeah, fine," Adrien choked before yelping again when Lila tried to put a comforting hand on his arm.

"Wow way to spaz out Agreste," Kim laughed. "Anyways, if we got this all hashed out I say it's time go try to grab some gelato before heading back to class. Who's in?" he looked over at Max and Alix with a challenging gleam in his eyes.

Max Nathaniel and Alix all gave assorted affirmations and nods of approval, gathering up their things and getting ready to depart.

"How about you guys?" Nathaniel asked.

"I'm good," Nino said, "I think I am just gonna sit here and savor my coffee a bit longer."

"Maybe next time," Adrien smiled.

Max and Kim exchanged some hurried whispers.

"Hey, Lila," Max said startling the girl in question who had begun distractedly toying with the condiments on the table.

"Yes?" She asked, eyeing him questioningly, her shoulders hunching in a barely noticeable defensive gesture as she slid even closer to Adrien's side.

"Would you like to come with us? There was something we were hoping you might be able to help us with."

"Oh," she murmured eyes widening in genuine surprise, "I thought… I mean I guess I could…" she turned towards Adrien with an expression of such conflicted fear that couldn't help but take pity on the poor girl.

"Go on," he said softly giving her a gentle nudge in the shoulder, "have fun. We'll catch up with you guys in class."

Lila grinned at him, her brief moment of vulnerability once again masked by her usual confident expression as she gathered up her things and headed out with the rest of their classmates.

No matter what anyone else thought, Adrien couldn't regret his decision to try and help Lila find a place here. Underneath the swagger and witty cleverness was just another lonely child desperate for someone to love them. Maybe befriending Lila was making his life more complicated, but at this point Adrien had accepted that his life was never going to be the definition of normal anyways.

He shook his head ruefully and leaned back in his chair. Time to deal with the other elephant in the room.

"So," he asked cautiously, "how are things with you and Alya?"

Nino stared down at his coffee. "We screamed at each other for a good bit yesterday. I'm going to meet up with her on Friday to talk about it. Until then best to just give it some space."

"You don't think you guys are going to break up over this do you?"

"What? No, man, nothing like that," Nino said, looking at Adrien with a half amused half horrified expression, "at least not on my end. No it's just… I love Alya. And I think it's great how she gets so passionate about all this stuff. But she sometimes gets so caught up in her own beliefs that she doesn't care about how what she is doing or saying is effecting everyone else you know? Someone's got to stand up to her.

God knows Mari's not gonna do it. I mean they are my girls and all but those two are a pair of enablers if I ever saw them."

"What do you mean?" Adrien asked.

"I mean they will support each other even when they really shouldn't. Like Marinette is always talking about how worried she gets about Alya rushing out after akumas, but she never tries to stop her either. And Alya… I mean she doesn't just not stop Mari's crazy schemes she helps plan half of them! I mean she helps Marinette steal your phone for crying out loud."

"Wait what?"

Nino flushed guiltily. "Pretend I didn't say that."

"What do you mean she helps Marinette steal my phone?"

"Nothing, there is no phone stealing happening that I know about and as your good friend would have been obligated to put a stop to instead of assisting in any way."

"Nino…" Adrien glowered at his friend.

"Ok, for reasons which I cannot fully explain Marinette may have needed access to your phone on a few occasions to save certain individuals some… embarrassing situations."

"Does this have something to do with Marinette's crush on me?" Adrien asked, throwing caution to the wind.

"Oh thank god you finally figured it out," Nino sighed slouching down against the table. "Do you have any idea how hard it's been not saying anything about it?"

"So it's true then. Marinette actually has a crush on me." Adrien grinned.

"Yeah, it's not like she's that great at keeping it a secret. You just happen to be the most oblivious person on the planet."

"So," Adrien hesitated, "If I asked her out you think she would say yes?"

Nino sat up and gave Adrien a long hard look. "You know," he said at last, "I think I finally believe in karma. It's a thing. I really need to start making more of an effort."

"Wha-"

"You finally realized that Marinette likes you back and Alya isn't here to appreciate the moment because she is too busy riding around on her Ladybug high horse. Yep. Karma's a bitch."