Chapter Text
Nino slipped out of the classroom, wanting to know what Adrien and Marinette were up to, but most of all, to not be a part of whatever was going on in the class. Something was not right, and he was going to find out what. Like a detective, the ones with a pipe, a long coat and a moustache.
Closing the door, he started looking for his friends. They were standing a bit further than him, a bit too far for him to hear the conversation. But judging by their expressions, it was not a pleasant one. He walked closer until he could hear them. But what he heard made him stop in his tracks
“What does it matter that she is lying as long as we know the truth? Her lies will be found out eventually. Just have patience,” Adrien said, and Nino gulped. Lying? Who was lying? He knew Marinette said Lila had lied, but did Adrien know that too? If yes, how long? And why didn’t he say anything?
“Patience? So she can keep making me the villain, the bully? So she can steal all my friends away? No Adrien, I am done with the high road. She will never change unless she is exposed and faced the consequences of her lies.” Marinette almost screamed at Adrien, something Nino never thought he would hear. He knew she was in love with him, even though she didn’t know he knew. So what made her so angry to almost scream?
“But making the bad guy suffer …” Adrien said, being interrupted by an angry Marinette.
“No Adrien, you won’t keep me quiet. I will tell them the truth!”
She turned to walk away, but was stopped by Adrien’s hand on her arm, holding her back. She slapped away his hand but stood still anyway. This gesture confused Nino even more. What was going on here? Marinette wanted to tell them the truth about something, but Adrien didn’t want her to tell it. But why? He needed answers!
“I thought you were my friend. But I guess you’re not,” Marinette said, looking over her shoulder at his bud, before looking back to the front. Almost out of nowhere, she started to sing. He recognized ‘Speechless’, and almost winced when he linked the events from this morning to the words. They were, in a way, trying to drown her because they wouldn’t let her explain, and wouldn’t listen to her story. She saw her gesturing to the classroom and knew he was right about that.
I won't be silenced
You can't keep me quiet
Won't tremble when you try it
All I know is I won't go speechless
Why did she look like that at Adrien when singing that part? Was he also trying to keep her speechless? Up to now, Adrien had always stayed away from the whole ‘Lila conflict’, being polite to everyone and helping Lila to the extent he could. So what was this about?
'Cause I'll breathe
When they try to suffocate me
Don't you underestimate me
'Cause I know that I won't go speechless
By now, Marinette was running outside, still singing. Man, nino thought, that girl can sing !
Written in stone
Every rule, every word
Centuries old and unbending
"Stay in your place"
"Better seen and not heard"
But now …
She was out of the doors, and disappeared. Nino looked back at Adrien, who still stood there. He looked so shocked, it was still written on his face when he turned around and saw Nino standing there. For a minute, the boys were just staring at each other.
“What was that about?” Nino asked, and Adrien could only shake his head.
“I … I don’t know, Nino, I have no idea why Marinette reacted that way,” he said, looking awkwardly at the floor and rubbing his neck
Nino knew his friend was trying to hide something, he knew at least partially why Marinette reacted the way she did. He probably couldn’t understand everything but he knew something.
Nino knew Adrien was a sheltered child, and thus knew little about certain social cues and so. He had a hard time understanding subtle hints about a person’s mood and tended to see the world through very rose-tinted glasses. He also didn’t exactly have the best role model. Gabriel Agreste wasn’t what you could call a ‘model parent’ (in Nino’s opinion you can hardly call him a parent), so it wasn’t strange Adrien had difficulties with navigating the school social life. So Nino knew he would probably have to break it down for him, so he could understand.
“What did you say to her? To make her so mad? Because dude, I’ve known her for so long, and it takes Chloe to get her this mad.”
He saw Adrien shift uncomfortably, rubbing his neck.
“Well, …, I, eh, in class, with the whole Lila thing, she wanted to call Jagged, but I managed to talk her down from it.”
This confused Nino. “Why would you want her not to call him?”
This made Adrien even more uncomfortable. “Because then, she would out Lila. And we agreed to take the high road,’ he answered. And then it clicked for Nino. Marinette had been right all along! Lila was lying to them! Somehow, she found out, and because she knew, because she was trying to warn them, Lila was trying to make her the liar! But how did Adrien fit into this? Because he clearly knows she is lying but he seems to be working against Marinette …
“So Lila is lying. Marinette was right,” Nino mumbled, but Adrien could hear. Looking up, he said, “and you know too. How long? And what is that high road thing?”
“I .. I’ve known since the first day she attended school,” Adrien admitted reluctantly, “and I have asked her to stop, telling her that if she wants friends she doesn’t have to lie. But she doesn’t seem to get it, or doesn’t want to stop. And Marinette wanted to expose her but if she does, Lila has no chance to make friends with you guys anymore. I told her that if we knew it was enough and if we waited long enough, she would lie herself in a corner. And you guys would all figure out the truth anyway.”
Nino was … shocked! Lila had played them from the beginning, and Adrien had known? And hadn’t said anything? But why? Why wouldn’t he say anything like that to him, to his best bud?
“What, Adrien? Why didn’t you say anything? I am your best friend, so why?” said Nino, trying not to scream at the model. Adrien looked down at his shoes, uncomfortably.
“Because, … I believe she can change. Once she sees you can make friends without lying, it … it will all be better! And besides, i-it is not like she is hurting anybody,” he answered but he seemed less sure of himself.
Nino didn’t know what he was hearing! “Not hurting anyone? Didn’t you see what happened in class just now? Alya slapped Marinette! Lila is accusing Marinette of things she never did! And who knows to whom she has done or does the same! And she lies to us, about meeting our idols, making empty promises! That hurts!” Nino almost screamed, having a hard time keeping his voice down.
Adrien almost felt a punch in the gut at those words, seeing how his friend was hurt. But he was so sure! You can’t start debunking every lie, right? They will unwind by themselves! At least, that is what his father told him. Tabloids write so many lies, it would take so much time to debunk them, and they always blow over anyway. Only when the lies are so bad they would hurt your reputation, you react.
Adrien’s eyes widened at that. This was what happened in class! Lila was not only lying to make herself look good but also to make Marinette look bad!
He must have said that out loud because Nino shook his head and said: “It was to be expected of your dad to not properly teach you how to deal with liars. Sure, I don’t know about tabloids; that is your world dude; but here when people lie, it is always more personal, and it is important to warn people. And sure, there is a difference with a little white lie but like you just said, that is not what Lila does! Did you know she made us carry her lunch tray because of a sprained wrist she probably doesn’t have? She is using us and hurting Marinette because she knows she lies so we wouldn’t believe her.”
This shocked Adrien. “No, I … I didn’t know,” he said, voice trembling. At this point, Nino started to pity his friend. He might not have done the best thing, but he did what he thought was best based on the knowledge he had (even if Gabriel’s advice was worth garbage!).
“Dude, it is okay. I understand why you did what you did. Let’s go back to class and see how we can solve this, starting with apologizing to Marinette. And then make sure Lila can’t make Marinette the bad guy anymore!”
Nino hugged his friend before slinging an arm around Adrien’s shoulders and together they went back to class.
Marinette had gone home, calling in sick in school. After explaining what happened to her parents, they were more than happy to let her stay home. She needed some time to cool down after what had transpired in class.
They wanted to believe Lila over her? Fine, she would let them. She’s had enough, she tried to warn them and show them proof, but if they didn’t want to listen, why should she keep trying?
Because it is what Ladybug would do , a voice in her head said, but she shook it off.
But maybe she, as a last act of generosity, would open their eyes about Lila Rossi, so they would learn in the future to be careful when something sounds too good to be true, or at least to fact check.