Lila's not one to dally, especially when something like Adrien is on the line, so it isn't even a day before she's waiting for Gabriel Agreste to pick up his phone. This would be the second time she's calling him in the last five minutes, and the fact that he didn't pick up the first time does nothing for her growing frustrations.

Lila growls.

She expects her second time to go straight to voice mail, again, and she's just mustering up the patience to call a third time when the line clicks and she's suddenly greeted with a monotone, "This is Gabriel Agreste's assistant speaking, how can I help you?"

"Natalie? Hi!" It pains Lila to be this chirpy so soon after a fallout but she's got a role to play, hasn't she? "I don't know if you remember who I am but- "

"Cut to the chase Miss Rossi. I haven't all day."

'What's this woman's problem?' "Right. I'm so sorry to be bothering you but it's just that- there's something important I need to discuss with Mr. Agreste. Something... something happened at school today and I'm really worried for Adrien."

There's a pause on the other side of the line. Then: "Mr. Agreste is out of country for the time being. I'll make sure to book an appointment as soon as he returns."

Lila clenches her teeth, 'That's not soon enough!' "Is there no way I can speak with him immediately?"

"I'm afraid not Miss. Rossi. If that is all. I will contact you with the appointment details at the earliest."

Natalie hangs up before Lila can get another word in and Lila glowers at the floor. 'That man better come home soon,' she thinks, 'or I'll just about lose my mind.'

-

With his father gone on a business trip Adrien felt just a little more in control of his life than he usually did. This was probably what spurred his decision (and a few suggestions from Plagg of course) to surprise Marinette by waiting outside her bakery ten minutes before school started. He's already gone inside and confirmed that Marinette was yet to start heading to school and so there he stood; leaning beside the front door with a smirk that would have made Chat Noir proud (yes, Adrien knew that technically he was Chat Noir but whatever).

It wasn't very long before Marinette stumbled out of the door of her parent's bakery. She had a piece of toast clenched in between her teeth and looked ready to make a run for it all the way to school but paused when she turned and instead met Adrien's green eyes.

"Hey there princess."

The piece of toast fell to the ground as her jaw dropped. "A-A-A-Adrien?!"

He laughed at her bewildered expression and moved to pull her in a hug. "Mariiiiiii~ I missed you soooooo much."

She laughed that sweet laugh of hers, the one that lit Adrien's heart on fire, and hugged back with ferocious strength. When Adrien pulled away, they were both laughing.

"Come on, we should get to school before we're late."

"Oh shit!"

-

Lila ground her teeth and forced a sweet smile. The whole goddamn day they'd been at it, acting all lovey-dovey. It was so annoying to watch! It almost felt like the Dupain Chang girl was mocking her.

"Awwww, you guys are so cute together!"

Lila turned a bitter eye towards Alya as the girl yet another photograph of them. Would she just stop it already? This whole routine had gotten old after, like, the fifth time. Still, Lila made sure that none of her bitter thoughts slipped onto her expression and pretended to be happy for the new couple.

Her only comfort through the whole thing was that she wouldn't have to keep through this for very long. The thought made Lila internally smirk.

'Two weeks. Enjoy your boyfriends while you can Dupain Cheng, because ultimately he belongs to me.'

-

Those two weeks turned out to be the worst of Lila's life. If Lila had thought that they'd been bad the first day, they just got worse. From the staring at each other all the goddamn time, to holding hands to the one time she'd seen Adrien feeding Dupain Cheng, it was living hell. Two weeks' time before Gabriel Agreste was back in Paris didn't pass quick enough for one Lila Rossi. But once she had finally lived through it, once she was finally sitting on a park bench, pretending to read a book as she waited for the one and only Gabriel Agreste to meet with her just like they usually did, no one could put out the malicious fire that seemed to twinkle in Lila's eye. Any moment now, and she'd soon be watching Dupain-Cheng's world crash and burn.

She was extremely mindful as a silver car came to a stop behind her and she could imagine to a degree the two unimpressed faces behind her, but nothing was stopping her now.

If there was one thing Lila was good at, it was weaving a story. She had already tarnished Dupain-Cheng's reputation to some level in Gabriel's eyes, a feat that wasn't very hard to be honest. Now, all she had to do was mix in a bit of news about Dupain-Cheng's more stalkerish tendencies (something that, to her delight, weren't lies), put in a bad word or two about how clumsy she was and how she'd positively ruin Adrien's reputation. That was really all it took and Lila could hear the dissatisfaction in Gabriel's voice as he took his leave. She could imagine the frown on his face, the disappointment that he felt towards his irresponsible son.

Lila smirked as she closed the book in her hands.

'Told you not to mess with me Dupain-Cheng'

-

"Adrien."

Adrien looked up in surprise to see his father standing at the top of the main staircase. The man looked down at his son with his usual displeased scowl and Adrien had to wonder if he had done something wrong or if his father had simply decided to welcome him back.

"In my office. Now."

Adrien winced as he followed the echoing footsteps of his father up the stairs. Whatever he had done, it must be bad because he was able to actually pick up the displeasure in his tone. The few times his father let emotions escape never turned out to be good and Adrien found himself subconsciously preparing himself for the worst.

When he entered his father's office, a place he could enter only when permitted, he found his father with his back towards him, standing behind the desk he usually worked at. Adrien came to stand on the other side of that desk and waited for his father to bring up the source of his displeasure.

"I expected better from you Adrien."

'You always do father.' Adrien thought.

His father continued, unaware of just how little Adrien was coming to care for all this responsibility his father was fond of placing on him. "When I first agreed to let you attend public school, I was under the impression that you were aware of the rules you would have to abide by."

Adrien shifted nervously in his place. What was this about exactly?

"You're still young Adrien. Letting you out in public has been one of the greatest risks that I've taken, especially now that a super villain is running around terrorising Paris."

Adrien almost wanted to laugh at that. If only his father knew...

"Not only are you in constant danger when left unsupervised, but so is the reputation that this brand, that my brand carries. I would think that was something you well understood, but in light of recent events it seems not to be the case."

What-

"She is a baker's daughter, yes?"

Adrien's blood ran cold.

There was no way-

"Correct me if I'm wrong, son."

Silence hung heavy and thick in the room. It was stifling and Adrien was finding it hard to keep a cool head under his current situation. He thought he had done well to hide his secret, but here he was trying to answer to crimes that were anything but.

"Will there be a need to pull you out of school?" his father mused, "You know very well that I would be more than happy to put you back on private tutors."

A panic filled Adrien; unlike anything he had ever felt outside the mask. "Father please..." His voice sounded weak, even to him.

His father ignored him and continued on, "If you wish to continue attending school Adrien, I better not hear anymore of this nonsense again. If my sources catch you again, there won't be a next time."

"I-"

"Am I clear?"

"Y-yes father."

And just like that his time with his father had come to an end. Adrien felt sick in the stomach as he exited that room, his only comfort right now were the tiny claws that dug into his skin, right above his heart. He let Natalie escort him to his room, completely lost in thought and actively ignoring her prattle on about the activities he had scheduled for the rest of the day. She would come inform him when things were due but right now, he had much bigger problems to address.

He closed the door to his room and came to sit on his bed in a daze. Panic still drummed heavy and persistent in his heart and he knew it wouldn't go away until he did something about it. Whether he liked it or not, this wasn't the first and nor would it be the last occasion he had disappointed his father. Adrien folded in on himself with his arms coming to wrap tightly around his sides.

"Plagg, what do I do?"

Plagg, who had come out of his usual hiding place to comfort his holder detached himself from where he had pressed himself against Adrien's cheek. He flew down to nudge Adrien's phone out of his pocket and onto the bed. "Call her. It'll be better if you figure this out together."

And Adrien didn't want to; he didn't want any of this to become real. The moment he talked to Marinette about this it would be set in stone and irreconcilable. The last month and a half, from taking her out on dates to being her boyfriend, her partner had been the best of his life, every moment spent with her was in love and in the pure adoration he felt for her. And he had finally finally gotten to her, only to lose her like this. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, but life never was.

"Adrien?"

Her voice was as sweet as ever, like nothing was wrong, and it had a choked sob escaping him. The shock of the news was finally subsiding and a heavy helplessness quickly took its place. He heard her startle on the other side of the line, "Adrien?! Are you okay?"

"No Mari I'm- I'm not, I'm not."

"What happened?"

"Father he- he found out. He found out about us."

Adrien hears a sharp intake of breath. "What-What did he say?"

Adrien closes his eyes and a few tears slip from beneath his eyelashes, "He said that- he was ready to pull me out of school, Mari. The only freedom I have- I- " He's not able to finish the thought. His voice is breaking and he can tell that he's worrying her.

"Oh Adrien... "

They sit in silence for a while and Adrien tries to gather his thoughts. When he feels like he can talk without him breaking down again he says, "Mari, what are we going to do?"

"How did your father find out?"

"What?" the question catches him off guard. "I-I don't really know."

"Someone must have told him, right? I don't think he's ever seen us together."

Father had mentioned sources. "Yeah, I suppose."

She responds with a non-committal hum. He can almost see the gears in her mind turning and it makes him smile a little. It reminded him that if he was ever in trouble, whether it be Chat Noir or as Adrien, he would always have two strong and dependable women to help him through.

"Adrien?"

"Yeah?"

"I- I think I have a plan."

-

Marinette's got a plan you guys.