Runaway: An Adrienette Story

Chapter 2 - The Photo

Just moments after, Adrien walks in and is shocked at what he sees. 

"Chloe! What are you doing? Marinette? Why are you on the floor, are you okay?" he says, kneeling down to her level. 

"The...present..." Marinette mutters quietly as her tears fall to the floor.

Adrien spots an all too familiar red and black object in Chloe's hand and takes it from her. "This is Marinette's present for Alya! What have you done?" he said furiously. 

"Well I wrote my name on it Adrikins, I am Ladybug's biggest fan after all!" Chloe stated.

"How could you Chloe! Marinette spent her time making a present for her best friend and you think it's okay to do what you just did?" he shot back. 

"Adrikins, I-" 

"I thought you were better than this Chloe, but I guess I was wrong." Adrien helps Marinette up from the floor. "Come on Marinette, let's go back to class." she quietly nods and they close the door behind them leaving Chloe all alone. 

"Ugh! Why does Adrien always take her side! Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous!"

With Marinette and Adrien

Adrien quietly guides Marinette back to the classroom but the lingering silence was starting to make him realize something. He didn't know how Marinette was feeling. 

"Hey, you okay?" 

"Yeah, I'll be fine..." she replied quietly. 

"Look, I'm sure Alya would've loved her present, don't take this too hard. We all know how Chloe is, cheer up." he encouraged with a small smile. 

"Okay..." she said continuing to look down, avoiding eye contact with Adrien.

She's so upset, I know it was special to her and she worked so hard on it. Adrien thought to himself. 

When they walked back into the classroom, their classmates gave worried looks and asked what was wrong. "I'm fine guys, it's okay." 

Nathanael replied, "If you say so Marinette, remember we're all here if you ever need to talk."

"Thanks, guys." she gave a small smile and headed to her seat.

Alya scooted over to Marinette and asked her about their plans. "Hey girl, want to meet at your house tonight to celebrate also so I can give you something." 

"Alya I-I don't-" 

"How's 6 Marinette?" Alya exclaimed. 

"Um, okay..." 

"Great! See you after school." Alya grinned as she scooted back to her spot.

With Nino and Adrien

"Hey, Adrien, what's up with Marinette? She good?" Nino questioned. 

"No, not really. Chloe did something to a present for Alya that she was going to give her tonight." 

"Wow, that's rough."

Miss Bustier begins to take roll and looks around the classroom to find an empty seat. "Chloe Bourgeois? Where is she?" 

"I think she's in the restroom ma'am." Sabrina states. 

"I see. Alright everyone, let's begin with our daily compliments!" 

While the rest of the class gets started sharing compliments, Chloe walks in with a frustrated look on her face.

"Miss Bourgeois, you're late. Get started sharing your compliments please." She rolls her eyes as she makes her way across the front of the room. 

After a few minutes, the rest of the class heads back to their seats. Chloe took this as an opportunity. 

"Down you go Dupain-Cheng!" The class drew their attention to the loud thud that followed Chloe's comment. Marinette was sprawled on the steps face first with her purse a few steps away from her, opened.

"Marinette! Are you okay?" Adrien said as he jumped out of his seat and picked her up. 

"You witch! How could you!" Alya yelled marching towards Chloe. 

"Ugh, who cares!" Chloe angrily retorted. 

Adrien joined the argument, "I do! You can't just trip someone on purpose Chloe! That's rude."

Adrien sits Marinette down in her seat and goes to fetch her purse. He grabs the purse off the floor and a small paper falls out, a photo of him! What's this doing in Marinette's purse? He grabs it off the floor and slips it in his pocket. 

"Thank you, Adrien. Sorry about that." 

"Don't worry about it Marinette. You're okay, right?" 

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine."

As class continued, Adrien couldn't stop thinking about Marinette. So much had happened and it was only the beginning of the day. He worried about her getting akumatized, so he did his best to try and cheer her up.

At lunch, Marinette, Alya, Adrien, and Nino sat together. 

"What's up Marinette? You're never like this girl..." Alya asks. 

"Yeah dudette, you not feeling well?" Nino adds. 

Marinette sighs, "Sorry, it's just not a great day for me."

"Ooh look Sabrina! I got her purse!" Chloe yells, jumping out from behind Marinette.

"No! Give it back Chloe! Don't open it!" 

Adrien reaches back and snatches it from Chloe and she storms off. 

"Thank you so much Adrien," Marinette says as she gives a sigh of relief. Chloe could have found Tikki!

Hmm, something is going on here... Adrien thinks to himself.

For the rest of the day, Marinette continues to sulk at the realization that she is going to meet with Alya after school...and her present for her is gone.

With Chloe

"Why is Adrien always against me! Maritrash is not his! He's mine!" 

"Ah, a girl who's jealous and not getting what she wants? Perfect prey for my dear Akuma. Fly away my little Akuma and evilize her!" A small purple butterfly flies towards Chloe and the infamous purple mask appears upon her face.

"Hello Miss Bourgeois, I see that Adrien isn't taking your side, I'm giving you the power to be just like Ladybug and prove to him that you are Ladybug's biggest fan and worthy of his friendship. All you need to do is get me Ladybug and Cat Noir's miraculous."

"Sounds like a plan Hawkmoth."