Because He Loved Me First

32

Marinette couldn't help realizing how much the school had changed. After the Mayor tried to get Chloe to apologize, and threatened he would take down the school, it was as if everyone was suddenly so afraid of him. They all changed, and when they saw Marinette again, they all became much nicer than they had been before. Nobody came up to her to beat her up, or make her feel as worthless as they had wanted to before. Sure, nobody ignored her, but instead of the usual insults Marinette was used to, they greeted her instead.

"Good morning, Marinette," She had heard one girl saying. Marinette wasn't sure if the girl said that because she was walking right next to Adrien. Were people being nice to her because she was friends with Adrien? Or were they actually nice because they felt bad and wanted to change their ways?

Marinette could always feel Chloe staring at her. It was like the blonde wanted to murder her, and Marinette bet she wished she could. Her eyes were always budging whenever she saw Marinette and Adrien together. One time Adrien had noticed her staring, so he took Marinette by her hand and sent Chloe a smirk.

At lunch time, Lila had been invited to sit with them, because now Chloe didn't want her around. Marinette was a little surprised when Adrien agreed for her to sit with them. She wanted to know what had happened between these two to get them to suddenly befriend each other. While eating, she accidentally blurted out the question.

"How did you two even become friends?"

Adrien and Lila turned to her. "Did you know. . ." Adrien started, "that Lila helped me look for you?"

Marinette had her mouth hanging opened then. Lila, one of the girls that hanged out with her biggest enemy, beat her up whenever she felt like it, made Alya leave the school. . . That same Lila was the one who tried to find her? Marinette wouldn't have bought it if it came from someone else, but seeing that it was Adrien who said so, it couldn't have possibly been a lie, could it?

"Adrien is exaggerating. I didn't try hard enough, all I did was help him with a question," Lila looked away, embarrassed all of a sudden. "But. . . I guess after I explained everything to Adrien, I started to realize that everything I'd ever done was absolutely ruthless and shouldn't have happened. I should have apologized to you earlier, Marinette." Lila looked back at her. "I actually. . . I actually didn't think you'd come back, but when you did, I was definitely surprised. So, I'm sorry for everything."

"Lila-"

"I know an apology isn't enough, but that's all I can give you right now. If you want some kind of gift, I can get it for you, but it would take long-"

"No Lila, I don't want any gifts from you." Marinette looked down with a tiny smile. "Throughout my time in this school before I left, my goal was to make one of you girls apologize to me. I guess after what happened, I gave up on that goal. Still. . . I really appreciate this."

None of them said anything after that, and if they did, it was about two to three words. Lunchtime ended and everyone started packing up to go to their next class, but before Marinette could even leave the cafeteria, Adrien had dragged her back, pulling her away from the large amount of crowd.

"What?"

"Can I talk to you for a few minutes, please?"

"We're going to be late for class," Marinette warned him, but Adrien didn't seem to care. Marinette just shrugged and followed him out of the cafeteria and inside the locker room. "What is it?" Marinette sighed, throwing her hands up in the air. "What was so important that we had to skip a few minutes of class, mfmhm-"

Marinette had her eyes wide opened while Adrien kept his shut, their lips attached to each other's. Adrien had his hands on her waist while he pulled her closer to him, and Marinette did nothing to resist him.

He kissed her and the world fell away. It was slow and soft, comforting in ways that words would never be. His hand rested below her ear, his thumb caressing her cheek as their breaths mingled. Marinette ran her fingers down his spine, pulling him closer until there was no space left between them, and she could feel the beating of his heart against her chest.

~

"Why are you two so late?" Students instantly raised their heads up when the teacher spoke, addressing to Adrien and Marinette who had just walked in.

Adrien had had a huge smile on his face, and he tried to wipe it away, though he saw he couldn't and just looked away instead, heading to his seat as he muttered an apology. Marinette did the same thing, feeling suspicious eyes on her, especially Chloe's, who seemed to glare deeply at her like that was the only thing she could do to express how angry she felt.

Because Alya wasn't in school anymore, Marinette sat down next to Adrien, which she could see annoyed Chloe to the core. Marinette ignored the blonde anyway and tried focusing on what the teacher was saying as she continued class.

Though the more she listened, the more she felt another glare coming from behind her. Marinette frowned a little, feeling uncomfortable. She finally turned around and noticed Lila looking down at her paper. When Lila looked up, she gave Marinette a small smile, but Marinette could immediately tell it was faked.

"You okay?" She asked in a low voice. Lila nodded again, and not putting much thought into it, Marinette turned back around and continued with her own work.