GOTHAM: BEYOND EVIL || Damienette

51 - Consequences (3): A Failed Misunderstanding

"M-marinette."

Damian's whisper was supposed to be a breath of fresh air compared to the stifling silence in the room, but it somehow added to the heavy weight on my chest. Lila, who was smirking at me, schooled her expression into innocence.

"Mari! I-i didn't see you there." she said, laughing nervously and moving away from Damian. The brunette, who was supposed to be explaining everything to me, was standing there, frozen like a stick.

It wasn't surprising, really.

Considering that it was Lila.

A common plot twist in novels; where the villain fakes her interaction with the male lead, and the female lead misunderstands the scenario, leading to 10 more chapters of angst. Safe to say, I was no female lead, and this was no novel.

I was disappointed. It was a changing room, of all places, which meant there were obviously no cameras or microphones inside. I admit; Lila can be smart when she wants to.

"Marinette, I hope you aren't mad at your boyfriend. He just- you know." Lila twirled her hair around her fingers. I looked at Lila sadly. "I'm not mad." I say, making her smirk grow wider, although she tried her best to maintain her expression.

"Sorry, Marinette." Lila said, apologetically. "You must be sad that your boyfriend likes me more than you-" she started. "I'm not sad." I interrupt her. "Huh?" The sausage-hair looked genuinely confused.

"I'm not mad. Why would I be mad?" I ask, pretending to be confused. "I mean- my boyfriend helped you fix your dress so you wouldn't be ashamed. He is a gentleman after all, right?" I ask, smiling widely.

Lila looked horrified. Her smile faded and her face went pale. "And maybe it's okay if he moved on. Because I'm dangerous, is it?" I say again. "W-what? How?" she muttered, and Damian stifled a laugh behind her.

"There was something else, too. What was it again?"

"You don't know what she's done, Dami!" Lila's high-pitched voice echoed inside the room. "No, you can't! Not when you don't know what she's done. She's impersonated a hero, faked being a famous designer, lied about knowing famous people-" Her voice continued.

Lila let out a shaky breath, tracing the source of the sound to my hand, on which lay a phone. "H-how did you...?" she questioned, making me laugh. I laughed so hard, so manically, that even Damian flinched.

"You should've known, Lila. Not everyone falls for the same thing twice." I say, smiling. Lila's face contorted in confusion as she racked her brain to find the reason. Then, she remembered- The time she had threatened me in the bathroom.

"Bathrooms are amazing, aren't they? No cameras, no microphones." I say, making Lila widen her eyes in surprise. "But what if someone dials a number by mistake, and the person just happens to record the call accidentally?" I say, grinning.

Damian contemplated whether to help Lila or not, and decided to. 'Imagine if Marinette was in this situation.' he thought to himself, before sighing. Right as he brought his hand to knock, he remembered something Marinette had said to him.

"Never be alone with Lila, especially in a place with no cameras." Damian sighed for the second time after remembering what his girlfriend had said. Knowing that bringing a camera or mic into a washroom was forbidden, he dialed Marinette's number in a hurry.

Damian just hoped it was worth it.

"Damian?" Marinette's voice echoed through the call, and Damian rushed to mute his phone. He put it to his mouth, whispering one thing. "Record this." he whispered to Marinette, not knowing if she'd gotten the point.