- I finally got my account back, thank God!
I can finally start updating once again.
Thanks for being patient.

-

"Listen, I really don't understand why you'd think I am bullying my daughter, but please just stop this nonsense." Lila's father turned back around to head back inside, but Marinette reacted quickly grabbed his arm, pulling him back. Lila's father now looked angry as he turned back to us. "JUST STOP THIS MADNESS!!!"

"Wait. . ." Marinette bent her head low, staring at the ground. "Lila had a wound on her body. The wound looked fresh as well, which meant it'd happen not so long ago. The picture of you daughter with that wound is online now because somebody posted them! Are you trying to tell me that you don't know anything about that wound on Lila's body!"

"Lila wasn't home at all yesterday, and the day before that, she looked absolutely alright with no wound, so whatever had happened to her had nothing to do with me. I've tried calling her cell so many times but she doesn't pick up, leaving me to believe that she's still mad over what happened with Catherine. I'm giving her space to cool off, so I haven't seen much of her." He looked deadly serious as he stared right at Marinette. "If you were really her best friend. . .if you really cared for Lila, Marinette, you would know exactly who hurt her and not push the blame towards an innocent person!" He turned back around. "I advise that you find out who's the liar and the innocent before coming to me. Good day, Ms. Dupain-Cheng!" And he walked back inside, shutting the door behind him.

I turned to Marinette, feeling guilty over what had just happened. Marinette bit her lip, and turned around. "Damn!" She spoke, walking away and leaving me to follow her. "Have I really been lied to? Why would Lila lie to me?" We walked into a more private area, and Marinette slid to the ground. "All these times. . . I've never succeeded in proving that her father didn't abuse her, but maybe that's because. . ." She covered her face. ". . .maybe that's because he was never guilty to begin with. But why would Lila lie?!" Her voice cracked at her next words. "What did I ever do to her?"

I sat down next to her and had her place her head on my shoulder. I still wasn't sure how to comfort someone especially when they were crying. Marinette was now whimpering and I could feel her tears soaking my shirt. Adrien, say something, you fool! But although I opened my mouth to speak, nothing came out. A girl is crying beside you and all you can do is stay quiet?! I pinched my arm hard, knowing I deserved this. "Marinette!" Finally finding my voice, I looked over at her. "I can help you. In fact, Alya, Nino and Nathaniel suspect Lila as well. We can all help you find out why she's doing this."

"No." Marinette lifted her head from my shoulder and wiped her face with her arm. "This is on me. I've been an idiot all these times, believing that Lila was innocent. I've looked over the fact that she could have been fooling me and I got mad at the people that were trying to help me open my eyes to the truth. I don't deserve help from anyone!" Marinette stood up from the ground, a more determined look on her face. "I'm going to talk to Lila myself, have her know that her little plan is over. This is between me and Lila. . .and it ends now!"

•

Marinette opened the door to her bakery and I walked in after her. The immediate scent of the delicious pastries hit my nose. I then remembered that I'd never been inside of her bakery as Adrien, but instead as a stranger on the streets. The bakery was empty when we entered, which showed that her parents weren't home. Marinette turned around to face me, before explaining that her parents had went grocery shopping and will be back in a few minutes. I just nodded along at her words and then stood there, not knowing what to do next.

"So. . .tell me again why you're deciding to stay at my bakery for the night?" Marinette smirked as she turned to me, but I only looked away with a red face. I had kinda hoped she wouldn't bring it up. I didn't want to talk about how I'd gotten in a fight with my father and now I was afraid of going home. Already, I had gotten about 23 missed calls and 52 text messages from Nathalie, asking me to come back.

"I. . .just want to spend time with you, Marinette." I tried giving her a different answer, but that wasn't exactly what I wanted to say either. She just chuckled and playfully punched my shoulder, before walking away from me. Had I made her feel uncomfortable? I pinched my arm again, scolding myself for not thinking before speaking.

"Anyway. . ." Marinette turned back to me again, this time a playful smirk on her face. "We have only two bedrooms, Adrien. Mine and my parents'. What in the world are you going to do?" Laughing, she climbed the ladder. I had always wanted to know what that ladder led up to, but now I could tell it was just her room. I hesitated for a moment, knowing what this meant, but I started walking towards the ladder anyway. I'm just going to sleep on the floor. It'll be no big deal. I took ahold of the ladder and placed my foot on the first step. Sleeping in the same room as my crush. What could possibly go wrong?

I stepped inside her room and closed the trapdoor. Marinette was sitting down on her bed, a teddy bear on her laps and a smirk on her face. "So you actually picked my room. Can't say I'm surprised; there's no way you would want to sleep in my parents' room. I mean they'd let you, but I'm really not sure if you'd like that." She laughed out loud again. "I was actually kind of expecting you to go back to your place, but guess I was wrong."

"I'll sleep on the floor!" I blurted out, hoping she knew that I wasn't planning on taking the bed from her. Marinette had such a wide grin on her face; I could tell she was enjoying all of this, the fact that I was embarrassed with sleeping in her room amused her. "You could just. . .give me a blanket and a pillow. I'll manage." Truth be told, I didn't exactly like sleeping on the floor. I remembered when my old bed had turned into a complete piece of garbage, so Father said he was going to get a new one. He has to take the old one out of my room, and meanwhile, it was either I slept on the floor, or I slept with Nathalie or Gorilla. Gorilla was huge and he liked moving around on his bed. I didn't want to get crushed by him. Nathalie on the other hand had a weird habit of talking in her sleep. I had first caught her doing it when I was 13; I had snuck inside her room that day and she kept speaking. I thought I'd gotten caught, but her eyes were closed. I knew with Nathalie around doing that, I wouldn't be able to get much sleep, which is why my only option was the floor. It was so uncomfortable.

"Adrien, I'm not going to let you sleep on the floor." Marinette stood up from her bed and just stood there. "The floor is cold. Take of your socks and feel it. Even I wouldn't feel comfortable with the floor either. . .so, our only option is to take the bed. It's large, comfortable and warm. Has got two pillows, a cute blanket, and literally space for three people."

I gulped at the thought of sleeping next to Marinette. To her, she may not have been bothered with the idea; she looked so calm, but me on the other was mad nervous. What if I secretly had a sleeping habit as well? What if I pinched Marinette while she's asleep, or accidentally swing my arm and hit her nose? Oh my goodness, maybe I snore really loud while I'm asleep. Maybe I snort in between my snores, and they may sound all disgusting and bother Marinette. What if she accidentally kicks me in the nuts?! I bent down to my knees, knowing I was being dramatic, and Marinette was probably staring at me with a frown on her face. I tried taking deep breaths to calm myself down, but none of that was helping.

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder, which got me to jump. "Geez, Adrien," Marinette laughed, taking me by the hand. "I promise I won't do anything. You don't have to be afraid of me." She sat me down on the bed and patted my head like I was some kind of a little kid. "I don't bite, I promise." She leaned in closer to me and smiled, trying to convince me that this wasn't such a bad idea. I was already starting to be convinced, plus now that I really thought about. . .maybe it wouldn't be so bad sleeping next to her. When I opened my mouth to speak, I didn't, suddenly realizing how close she had gotten towards me.

I didn't move away as she leaned in much closer and finally placed her light pink lips on mine. It wasn't like one of those close-mouthed kisses like you do when you're in eighth grade and you've never held hands before with a girl. It was full on, open-mouthed, almost sexual kiss. And I loved it. I loved the way her small body melted into mine. The way our lips fit like two puzzle pieces. The way she relented as I played with her hair and held her tighter and tighter. When we broke away after what seemed like ages, she looked at me. . .I had been completely unprepared. You would think that after all the hours I'd spent with Marinette - watching her talk, laugh and frown - that I would know all there was to know about her lips. But I hadn't imagined how warm they would feel pressed up against my own.

"Uh. . ." She backed away from me, and for the first time ever, her face was actually full-blown red. Good! I thought. Now, I'm not the only one who feels embarrassed in this room. After the kiss, you'd think I would be more embarrassed to sleep with her, but now I was actually all fired up. Marinette was the one squirming and looking nervous, covering her red tomato face as she looked away. Luckily for her, a voice called her from downstairs, showing that her parents were home. "I'll be back." She said, before rushing out of the room. I chuckled to myself, before placing a finger on my wet lips now.

What the heck was that?! I hadn't expected Marinette to make such a bold move, but at the same time, I was glad she did. This obviously just cancelled all of my doubt about her liking me back. She did like me back, and now that she knew Lila had been fooling her all these times, she wasn't afraid to hold back. Does that mean I'm completely free to ask her out? I didn't get to think much more into it, because my phone started ringing. I looked over at, keeping a straight face after seeing it was Chloe herself. Was she going to ask me to come over and keep her company like she always did? How would I reject her offer without upsetting her or letting her know I was over at Marinette's bakery? I lightly pressed the green button anyway and waited for her to speak.

"Adrien. . .?"

"Yeah, Chloe? Is everything alright?"

"I mean. . .I don't know. I just have something to tell you. I've been keeping it to myself, but after seeing that picture of you and Lila together, I just knew something was wrong. I knew I had to inform you before it was officially too late for you to believe me."

I frowned at the words, confused at what she wanted to tell me, but I didn't speak and just let her continue on from where she left off.

"I looked at that picture and saw the wound on Lila's body. It just made me remember this certain memory from when we were young. When Lila and I were still in middle school, I was one day partnered up with her for a project. We agreed on coming to her place, and we selected a time, but I was 2 hours late, which may have gotten Lila to think that I wasn't coming anymore. I came over anyway, met this weird guy who was supposedly her father, and then I headed to the bathroom to use it. When I opened it up, I saw Lila in there and all around her was make-up. Right on her body, she was fixing on a fake scar on there. . ."

I gasped a little, widening my eyes. It hadn't just been Alya who had caught her, Chloe had also caught her as well. Lila may not have been careful, or maybe she was just overconfident, knowing that Marinette was going to stick up for her. "Did you ever tell Marinette when you found out?"

"I didn't really know Marinette back then, but I did try to tell her. Lila kept her away from me though, so I never bothered trying again after so many attempts and fails. I got the idea that Lila was doing this fake scar business because of Marinette, so I sent someone else to tell her about it, but I'm not sure if she ever did get told about it. I only thought it was for Marinette, but after seeing that picture, how she had been so close to you, shedding her fake tears, I understood she was actually just trying to fool everyone around her. Trying to get their pity, and now I've gotten a feeling that she's gotten you trapped."

"Chloe, I'm sure it's way more than that."

"See, I knew you wouldn't believe me. I went from your best friend, to just your friend, because now you have Marinette and Lila by your sides and you don't need me anymore."

"Chloe, that's not it," I tried explaining to her before she got the wrong idea again. "I do believe you, but I already know about Lila faking her scars. I'm just thinking that it's way more than getting our pity. She's doing it for a specific reason."

There was silence for a while on the other hand, but finally Chloe spoke up. "Okay, Adrien, just. . .stay safe. Too many toxic girls in this world." After those words, she hanged up, and I just stood there, pressing my phone against my ear, thinking about what she had just said.

But is Lila toxic though?. . . Or is she doing this for a good cause?