Marinette stared at Alya in betrayal.

Alya and Nino were sitting with Lila, and they didn't even wait for her in the cafeteria like they always did.

They were talking animatedly, and Alya looked excited, making a lot of hand gestures. That usually only happened when she talked about Ladybug.

Marinette frowned. She'll sit alone then. She'd rather sit alone than sit next to Lila.

She grabbed her food and plate and sat by a nearby table. They didn't notice.

"Thanks for taking care of my brothers Lila! Are you really friends with Ladybug?"

"Yes, of course," came the reply.

"That's so cool! Can you set up an interview between us?"

Marinette allowed herself a smile. How was she going to get out of this one?

"I would if I could, believe me, but Ladybug always says no. Besides, she is to busy to bother with stuff like this."

Marinette narrowed her eyes in anger! That is not true! Not only was she lying, but she is also ruining her reputation. Her hand grabbed her fork tightly.

A sudden flashback

Chat Noir - "Look after Lila. She lies as she breathes."

Tension relieved, her shoulder relaxed and she smiled. At least her kitty knew the truth about that girl.

And one other person, who was approaching now. Adrien Agreste. With the sun reflecting off the back of his golden hair, he literally looked like an angel.

"Hey, can't help noticing that you're sitting alone. Mind if I join?"

Still with a smile on her face, she gestured for him to sit down. She didn't trust herself to talk to him without stuttering.

"You look awfully happy with your friends sitting with Lila. Are you thinking of anything in particular?"

She wondered if she could tell him. She shrugged. No harm right? She felt a blush oncoming to her cheeks, but she went ahead.

"I was th-thinking of Chat Noir." She was proud of herself for only stuttering once.

His eyebrows raised. "Chat Noir? Why?"

Nervousness forgotten, she gestured towards Lila. "I heard him saying that she lies as she breathes. I've never heard anything truer."

Adrien looked at her in surprise. "When did you hear that?"

Marinette realized that she made a mistake. She couldn't admit she was there as Ladybug after all.

"I was passing by..." she cringed inside. That was the lamest excuse she ever heard.

He opened her mouth to tell her that no one besides Ladybug and Chat Noir was there on the scene, but fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Lila interrupted him.

"Adrien! Why don't you come to sit with us?" She slung her arms over his shoulders.

He shrunk back. "Actually, I'm fine here. Thanks."

"Nonsense. We'll come and sit here then."

Adrien gave Marinette a look of apology. Marinette shrugged. It wasn't his fault.

After a few minutes, Adrien, Marinette, Alya, Nino and Lila were all sitting at the same table.

Marinette stabbed her fork into her streak. This lunch break was going to be terrible.

Later in the afternoon classes...

Marinette felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Adrien looking at her.

She was surprised at how much they were interacting today. A pleasant surprise, to be sure.

Oh, who was she kidding? She felt like screaming at the top of her lungs sometimes.

"Hey, sorry for what happened at lunch today again."

"Uh no! Really, i-it wasn't your fault."

Adrien wrinkled his brow and Marinette couldn't help but reflect how cute he looked.

"I know but, most of the stuff she was saying about Ladybug wasn't true. I would know if she had "a best friend" like she says." Adrien put his hand up in quotation marks.

Marinette sat up quickly. "How would you know?"

Adrien winced internally. He slipped up.

"I'm actually a big fan of hers. I think I would know." He admitted.

Marinette's eyes got as wide as saucers. "You are?!"

"Yeah."

"Well then, I must confess I am a fan of Chat Noir."

It was Adrien's turn to be taken aback. He was at a loss for words. "W-wow," he finally said. "Usually people prefer Ladybug.'

"Not me. I think Chat Noir is equally as important."

He felt strangely flattered, even though she couldn't have known that she was talking about him.

The bell rang, signifying the end of class.

They walked out of the school together, not noticing Alya looking at them with a strange look on her face.

They waved and said goodbye when Adrien saw Gorilla.

That day left them both with a new understanding of each other.

Hey everyone, I'm back!

Please let me know what you think about this first chapter by leaving a review.

I have a lot of things planned for our heroes, especially after seeing the end of timetagger.

Thank you for reading and bug out!