Note: Hey, guys! I'm back from the dead as I was hit with a burst of inspiration for this fanfiction I've read on tumblr. It's like a choose-your-own-adventure type story. I'm only contributing to a certain part. I sadly do not have a tumblr account, so I'm posting it here.

Disclaimer: This show and its characters belong to Thomas Astruc. This original fiction was also started by kittybug on tumblr. The parts that come after belong to their respective authors. I do not own anything. Thanks for reading and enjoy (and please give these tumblr authors the appreciation they deserve)!

This link for the whole story:

post/154106772337/kittybugs-evil-idea

I wrote this as a continuation of (read first before reading mine):

post/154090348048/sadrien-skaylanphear-kittybug-me-okay

Her words were met with no response, hanging heavily in the air between them. Adrien's eyes only widened as he gaped at her in utter shock. Tears streamed freely down Marinette's face now, but she made no move to wipe them. Instead, her mouth remained set as her eyes remained resolute.

It was in that moment, the clasp of her purse came undone, and Tikki flew out into the open, floating solemnly above Marinette's shoulder as she regarded Adrien with a neutrally guarded expression. Upon seeing the Kwami, the boy's eyes only widened further, to the point that Marinette expected them to pop out.

A painful moment of silence settled over them once more, then two… then three. When it was certain that Adrien had been rendered of any speech capability, Marinette spoke up again, her voice low and flat.

"You know, for what it's worth, I get why you'd think that I would reveal myself just to get you to like me back." She swiped an arm across her eyes, briefly clearing her blurry vision before it was overrun with tears again. "I can see that, but… that wasn't my intention at all."

Her brows creased as she looked away. "And yet, we somehow ended up here."

When he didn't respond, she looked him straight in the eye again and continued. "You expected more from me as a friend, but I expected more from you as both a friend and as my partner. But…" She gave a helpless shrug, hurt and sadness seeping into the movement. "I guess I just put too much of my faith in you. My mistake. Won't happen again."

The connection all but snapped back into place in Adrien's brain, and he could finally move his mouth again. But just as he willed his lips to move, to form her name, the look in her eyes stopped him from saying a thing.

"Would I ever lie to you, chaton?" she asked with a sad smile, the familiarity of his own words washing over Adrien like a wave of ice water.

But before he could open his mouth once again, she was already walking past him, Tikki diving back into her purse as she headed back to the classroom with an eerie sense of composure.

As she entered, Chloé was still standing where they left her, ready to go off on Marinette again, when the falsely accused heroine looked at her with an expression that sent the blonde scurrying back to her seat, stewing.

Marinette sat in hers just as Adrien entered the classroom. The class was completely silent as the model sat in his seat, expression solemn. Their respective best friends tried to comfort them as best as they could.

But they kept to themselves for the rest of the day.

Once the bell rung, Marinette was one of the first to sweep her books into her backpack before hefting it onto her shoulder, completely avoiding the boy in front of her as she hurried out the door with Alya following close behind. She suddenly had the urge to just get away from it all, away from him. Away from the absurdity of the whole situation.

As she reached the stairs, Alya came up beside her, looping her arm through Marinette's. "You all right, girl? That look you had when you came back was intense."

Marinette's arm tightened around Alya's. "I'm… okay. Just… had to get away from there. I've said my piece; he can take it however he wants to. They can roll with whatever perception they have of me. I know I'm not a liar."

"How did I not notice you were Ladybug again?" Alya asked teasingly, prompting both of them to giggle.

As they reached Marinette's bedroom, an alarm sounded from Alya's phone. Upon checking it, Alya's eyes widened before showing the screen to Marinette, mouth turned up in a grimace.

"That's some really bad timing," Alya commented as Tikki flew out of the purse to look as well.

The screen was showing a video of an Akuma attacking the Louvre, demanding the surrender of Ladybug and Chat Noir's Miraculouses.

Marinette and Tikki exchanged a look before turning back to Alya. "A hero's got to do what she's got to do. Just make sure to stay at a safe distance if you plan on filming, okay?"

"No guarantees," Alya replied with a smirk as Marinette stepped back to give herself some room.

"Tikki, transform me!"

Ladybug took care of the Akuma before Chat Noir arrived. The feline hero landed a small distance from her just as she released the purified butterfly into the sky.

Without so much as a glance at him, the heroine turned to go. "Danger's over, Chat. You can go home."

"Ladybug, please wait. C-Can we just talk for a second?"

The heroine paused, chancing a look over her shoulder at him. Her voice was strangely neutral. "And what's there to talk about, Chat? Will you even believe what I have to say? Do you really want to converse with a liar?"

He flinched at this but she continued, "I would have expected to be called out by Chloé; that I can deal with. But to be thrown under the bus by my own partner" — her voice cracked slightly — "I should've known."

She turned to him fully, blue eyes full of pain. "You believed everybody else when they claimed to know me or claimed the status of a superhero, yet when it came to the actual girl behind Ladybug's mask, she was the one you thought was lying." She gave a bitter scoff. "It's ironic, isn't it?"

Chat Noir bit his lip, his internal pain matching hers as he reached for her. "Ladybug— Marinette—"

Ladybug stepped out of his reach, almost as if on reflex. "Don't. Just don't."

With that, she lassoed a support of a nearby rooftop before swinging away, leaving Chat Noir with his empty hand outstretched.

Unfortunately, I can't post actual links. But the first link is by jamdraws and the second is by geek-baits