Her first thought is Kagami.

Kagami found them, and she's going to strangle her with her bare hands, right here, with the puppeteer and carousel horses and beekeepers all as witnesses. She might also behead her with her sword.

But it's not Kagami. It's Chloé.

Adrien springs off her. The girl turns her head away, but not before Marinette notices that she's crying.

"Chloé!"

She runs away before the bluenette can say anything else. The latter looks at Adrien, and he's rubbing his head in disbelief.

"Shite," he says.

"Shite is right," Alya says. The bluenette's startled to discover she and Nino are here, too.

"Chloé." She moans. "Kagami." How could they let this happen? He has a girlfriend, and they both have a friend who is in love with him—the secret that isn't a secret and never has been.

Adrien jumps to his feet. His shirt is covered with dried grass. And then he's gone. He races after the girl, shouting her name. He disappears behind a copse of trees, and Nino and Alya are talking, but she doesn't comprehend their words.

Did Adrien just leave her? For Chloé?

She can't swallow. Her throat is closing. Not only has she been caught with someone she had no right to be kissing-and not only was it the greatest moment of her life-but he's rejecting her.

In front of everyone.

There's a hand in front of Marinette, and in a daze, she follows it to his face. Nino. He grips her hand and helps me stand. The bluenette's cheeks are wet, and she doesn't even remember starting to cry.

The Couple don't speak as they steer her onto a bench. They let her blubber about how she doesn't know how it happened, and she didn't mean to hurt anyone, and please don't tell Kagami. How she's not surprised that Adriem ran away because she is so, so awful. The worst.

"Marinette. Marinette," Nino interrupts. "If I had a euro for every stupid thing I've done, I could buy the Mona Lisa. You'll be fine. You'll both be fine."

Alya crosses her arms. "Don't feel sorry, girl. Your lips weren't the only ones working out there."

"It just happened. I've ruined everything. She hates me. Adrien hates me!"

"Pretty Boy definitely doesn't hate you," Alya says.

"Though if I were Chloé, I'd hate him." She adds, "He's been leading her on for way too long."

Nino is indignant. "He's never once given her the impression that he liked her more than a friend."

"Yeah, but he's never discouraged her!"

"He's been dating Kagami for like five to six years. You'd think that'd be discouragement enough-oh. Sorry, Marinette."

The bluenette sobs harder.

They stay with her on the bench until the sunlight dips behind the trees, and then they walk her from le jardin back to her home. When they arrive at the door, the house is empty. Her parents are out.

"I need to talk to Chloé," Marinette says.

"Oh, no, you don't," Alya says. "Give her time."

But, as soon as The Couple disappear, Marinette races out, hailing a cab to the Bourgeois Hotel. The valet shows her Chloé's room.

Jagged Stone thumps from behind the door at an abnormally high volume. Is "Comprènde" covering the sound of her crying?

Marinette doesn't know what to do. Balling her fists, she jogs away, utter desperation and regret surfacing again.

Chloé hates her. This bit of information isn't new. She always has, but in a childish way. But this. . .?

Adrien has disappeared, and she doesn't know if he likes her or hates her or thinks he made a mistake or what. Should she call him?

But what would she say? "Hi, this is Marinette. The girl you kind of kissed in the park and then ditched? You wanna hang out?" But she has to know why he left. She has to know what he thinks about her.

Marinette's hand shakes as she puts her phone to her ear.

Straight to voice mail.

Marinette decides to walk away . But, her feet slow as she passes the blonde's room. She has to apologize, she doesn't care what Alya says, but Chloé is furious when she opens her door. "Great. It's you."

"Chloé. . . I'm so sorry."

She gives a nasty laugh. "Yeah? You looked reay sorry with your tongue lodged down his windpipe."

"I'm sorry." She feels so helpless. "It just happened."

Chloé clenches her hands, which are oddly bracelet-free. She's not wearing any makeup either. In fact, she's completely disheveled. Marinette's never seen her look anything but polished before. "How could you? How could you do this to me?"

"I ... I ..."

"You what? You knew how I felt about him! I can't believe you!"

"I'm sorry," She says again. "I don't know what we were thinking-"

"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter anyway. He's not choosing either one of us."

The bluenette's heart stops. "What? What do you mean?"

"He chased me down.Told me he wasn't interested." Her face reddens. "And then he went to Kagami's. He's there right now."

Everything turns hazy. "He went to hers?"

"Just like he always does when there's trouble." Her voice changes to smug. "Now how does it feel? Not so hot anymore, huh?" And then she slams her door in Marinette's face.

Kagami. He's choosing Kagami. Again.

How she ended up in her home again was a blur. The only thing she knew was that she had to get away from him, from Paris right after the gala. It had been wrong to come back. Everything was wrong. Adrien was wrong! And, his girlfriend. Who he won't NEVER never give up on.

Marinette's startled by a knock on her door. She has been worked into such a frenzy that she didn't hear the footsteps.

"Mari? Mari, are you in there?"

Her heart seizes. The voice is familiar.

"Are you all right? Alya says you're crying?" He knocks again, louder. "Please, Mari. We need to talk."

She throws open the door. "Talk? Oh, you'd like to talk now?"

Adrien stares at her in shock. The whites of her eyes are still red, and her body is poised for attack. "Mari?"

"What, you didn't think I'd find out you went to Kagami's?"

He's thrown. "Wh-what?"

"Well?" The bluenette crosses her arms. "Did you?"

He didn't expect her to know this. "Yes, but . . . but-"

"But what? You must think I'm a complete idiot, right? That I'm just some doormat who'll wait for you on the sidelines forever? That you can keep running back to her every time things get difficult, and I'll just be okay with it?"

"It's not like that!"

"It's always like that!"

Adrien opens his mouth but then snaps it shut. His expression flips between hurt and fury a thousand times. And then it hardens. And then he storms away.

"I thought you wanted to talk!" She says.

Marinette slams the door.