It was already the night of the dance and things were going better than expected. Well, the dance hadn't started yet, but Marinette was hosting a little get together with the girls of her class to get ready for it. It just seemed like an image from a rom com, really, and it was fun for them. Doing each other's hair and makeup, helping fit the dresses, having dinner, and enjoying each other's company. Only one problem arose.

"It ripped," Alya said with a trembling voice from the other side of the bathroom door which the rest of the girls were crowding around.

"What?" Rose squeaked. Alya suddenly swung the door open to reveal her dress was torn at the sides where the seams just couldn't keep together. Alya was tearing up.

"I ruined it," Alya whimpered. There were a few gasps and murmurs among the girls, most of which had already gotten in their dresses.

"Oh no!" Rose said, being the first to step forward. She looked at the largest rip which exposed a portion of Alya's bra under her armpit. "Um... maybe Marinette can fix it since... she works with clothes?"

"Yeah, just magically make the dress grow," Alya exclaimed, hiding her face in her hands. "This fit me just fine when I tried it last week."

"Hey, hey, don't worry!" Mylene piped up, "there's plenty of time to fix it!"

"We can't FIX it!" Alya sobbed.

"We don't have to," said Marinette, wheeling herself around the corner where she's previously been helping Juleka fit her dress so that it was smaller and less baggy around her hips. "I've already made a plan!"

"What?" Alya finally looked up. Marinette mysteriously disappeared.

"Um... Alya don't worry," Rose said, dismissing Marinette's oddness, "there's still a few hours we could use to find a dress real quick."

"Thrift stores have some magic stuff if you're worried about expense," Alix remarked.

"Nino is supposed to pick me up in an hour," Alya said, rubbing her cheeks with embarrassment.

"No thrift stores!" Marinette reappeared behind the cluster of girls in her room. With her, she brought a mannequin on wheels. It was the only plus sized mannequin she had, and adorning it was a nifty dress with a black sleeveless top, shiny like the leather of a biker jacket, and a bright lavender purple flowy bottom that barely would reach the ankles (if the mannequin actually had legs, of course). Around its waist was a little belt for accessories–its buckle had a wifi symbol on it which glitter in the reflection of light coming through the window.

"Wh-what is that?" Alya asked.

"I made it! For you!" Marinette said as the girls let her come forward with the mannequin. "I know you've been beating yourself up over the Lady Wifi ordeal, and you don't like talking about it. But... I don't know, I thought maybe this would help you appreciate yourself a little? I was planning on cutting the bottom to make it shorter for like... a date dress if you wanted, but I dunno, keeping it long makes it seem more eloquent. And it'll be fun to dance with!"

"You made that?" Alya asked in bewilderment.

"Yep! I tried sizing it for you, but I might need to make some adjustments."

"Can I try it on?"

"Of course! That's why I brought it out here, silly!" Marinette giggled. She unclipped the back of the dress and slipped it off the mannequin, passing it to Alya. "It might be small around the breasts, but I can fix that easily. Try it!"

"I- th-thank you..." Alya said, unsure of what to even say.

The girls continued to encourage her, even as she disappeared abc into the bathroom. Taking a deep breath, Alya unzipped the back of her torn dress and slipped it off. She inspected herself in the mirror for a moment, taking it in, trying to regulate her motion. She looked at her belly, embraced with horrible stretch marks which were now old and whitish, scarring over her hips and down her thighs. Her armpits were also cursed with these, as were her breasts. Alya felt ashamed. She was the only one in her family like this. Her older sister was fit and muscular, blessed with the body of a goddess. Yet, no matter how hard Alya worked for it, she couldn't lose her fat.

Just as she was thinking this, she caught a glimmer in the mirror. Light was stretching up across her scars, starting at the cast around her leg and snaking up along each and every stretch mark, glowing warmly, fading, pulsing at the rate of a heart beat. The light danced up her sides to her breasts and arms, making all her stretch marks glow. And finally she could see their beauty. They were as thimble as lightning in their striking beauty. They were painted onto her by the hand of a painter whose brush was so thin and delicate it could write words in small print that could tell words of laughter. The scars were like that of smiles, like scars upon the earth that told tales of strength and survival, like the deep cosmos of space where dying stars met newborns in celestial time of the universe, greeting and swaying like dancers. They were beautiful. They were the kisses of angels upon her body which was also beautiful. Alya was beautiful.

"Do you see it now?" Trixx asked as he appeared from behind her, looking at her in the mirror. Alya felt breathless, even as the light disappeared. The light had been Trixx's doing, only an illusion. Despite the fact that the light had never been real, its truth remained. Alya had nothing to be ashamed of. Trixx was just helping her to see that.

"I... I think so..."

"Alya, you are magical," Trixx said, flying up over her head, "and it pains me to see you feel so miserable about things that aren't worth such aggravation. This is your body, you should love it just as future lovers will."

"Th-thank you," Alya mumbled, picking up Marinette's handmade dress.

"But that isn't all," Trixx said, flying down to the dress and placing his tiny hand on the emblem of the wifi symbol, "you shouldn't be beating yourself over this either. Lady Wifi is the embodiment of your emotions, and you shouldn't be ashamed of being upset by something. I know what happened in that incident was horrible, but you have to remember, the Alya we all know would never have done that consciously. You should be free to feel upset, there's nothing wrong with it. But Alya, you aren't a monster."

"I know," Alya whispered, feeling a tear run down her cheek. She wiped her eyes. "I know."

"Good. Now, get dressed. You're going to have so much fun tonight!"

"Thank you, Trixx."

When Alya exited the bathroom, everyone was eager to see the dress on her. Marinette quickly fumbled about her own creation, fixing up a few things so that it would fit Alya's body perfectly. Alya was too stunned to speak. She was so grateful for Marinette that she couldn't even put it into words. She didn't feel bad about herself. In fact, she was now happy. She felt loved. She was loved.

With that out of the way, the girls got focused on doing their hair and makeup and before they knew it, half of their dates were already there to pick them up. The first one being Nino who was going to take Alya and Marinette to a sweet shop where they could make customized fizzy drinks for themselves and get high on sugar. Nathaniel was going to meet them there. Alix was going with Kim, looking overly formal next to Alix who was wearing cargo boots, baggy black pants and a vest. Lila, who'd hardly said a word to any of them the whole time she was at Marinette's house, said she had a date and that he was going to be picking her up a few blocks away since he was a "well known celebrity that didn't want to be seen in public yet for fear of paparazzi." Surprisingly, Mylene had asked Ivan to go with her, and despite how polar opposite the two were both in size and taste, it was pretty evident Ivan had a bit of a crush on Mylene and she liked him back. That left Juleka and Rose (since Chloe and Sabrina didn't want to come to Marinette's house). Juleka and Rose were going together, though it was unclear who'd asked who. Before everyone left, Marinette had her mom take a picture of the group together to solidify the memory which she, and many, would be fond of for years to come.

The night was going to be special.

Juleka looked like a vampire when she stood next to Rose, the fairycore enthusiast. Once everyone was gone, Juleka and Rose headed out to the school early. They hadn't made any sort of plan for what they wanted to do before the dance, so they just had to wait an hour or so in front of the school in shame. Juleka felt embarrassed for not realizing the ordeal at Marinette's house wasn't going to last all the way up till the dance. She felt like she should have come up with an activity for them to go do. Perhaps to see a movie with Rose.

Juleka didn't know what Rose would want to do. In fact, she was sure all their interests would collide.

After sitting on the steps for a bit, Rose stood up and said, "why don't we walk down a few blocks to the river? Maybe we can find something to eat?"

"We already ate at Mari's," Juleka said bluntly. Rose frowned.

"Like, ice cream, I meant. I think there's a Fenocchio somewhere around here."

"I don't think I've actually ever been to a Fenocchio before," Juleka said, "I've been put off by the word of their flavors. Tomato flavored ice cream? That's just weird."

"It's not actually tomato flavored... I don't think..." Rose said, "but they also have normal flavors like... any version of chocolate you can imagine. 100 flavors is a LOT, you know."

"Sure, we can go there," Juleka said, breaking into a smile. She stood up, towering over Rose. Juleka's black hair was braided and twirled into a bun on her head, exposing her back to the cold wind. She rarely put her hair up, so it felt very weird to her. She still kept her bangs over her eye, as it just felt like it was a part of her look. To disobey the emo bang would be sinful.

"I'll GPS it, but I'm preeeeeettyyyy confident I know where it is," Rose said, taking her phone out. Juleka had just gone to try and take Rose's hand when the girl went for her phone. Juleka awkwardly hid her hand at her side, feeling her face heat up in shame. Rose started bouncing down the steps of the school excitedly, Juleka slowly trailing behind her.

"That was sweet of Marinette, wasn't it?" Rose said chipperly as they got down onto the sidewalk. Juleka was lazily following Rose.

"What was?"

"The dress thing for Alya!" Rose said. "Did you see the wifi symbol on the belt? I think she did that to help Alya get over the whole Lady Wifi incident."

"Yeah..."

"It's touching to know that there are some people who don't see the akuma victims as villains."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know. I think the whole city... country really... All of France has gotten into a tiff over these things. And you can tell how someone feels about it by the way they talk about it. Is it akuma villain or akuma victim? Ya know?"

"What if they are villains?" Juleka asked. Rose winced slightly.

"I think they're being controlled. It's not fair to assume all of them are bad people. They didn't choose to be used as a vessel," Rose said.

"I suppose that's true."

They neared a man down the street who was playing an accordion. Rose smiled weakly at him as they passed, and as soon as they were far enough, she whispered, "now that was stereotypically french, wasn't it?"

"Only if he had wine bottles with him," Juleka joked.

"I think he did," Rose whispered, lying.

"Omg the scandal," Juleka giggled.

"You know what's more french?" Rose asked.

"What?"

"Me, you ready?" Rose twirled out in front of Juleka on the sidewalk. She cleared her throat before singing La vie en rose by the icon, Edith Piaf. "Ahem, in honor of me; Quand il me prend dans ses bras~" she began to sing, "qu'il me parle tout bas~ Je vois la vie en rose~"

"Oh my god," Juleka giggled.

"Il me dit des mots d'amour~" she skipped back to Juleka, linking her arm in hers, "des mots de tous les jours et ca m'fait quelque chose~"

"Nooo stop-" Juleka said, trying to suppress her embarrassing giggle.

"Why? It's a song dedicated to my name!"

"Yes, I'm sure Edith Piaf wrote that song just for you... in the 1940s..." Juleka deadpanned.

"Would you like me to sing something else then?" Rose smirked.

"Noooo people will start looking at us-"

"Very well then, AHEM-" she dramatically cleared her throat as if to sing. Juleka clasped a hand over Rose's mouth.

"Rose!"

"I'm just kidding," Rose snickered, leaning up against Juleka. Juleka felt her heart begin to flutter and she wasn't sure what to do with it.

"Ah hah... yes..." her mind went back to Halloween which seemed like forever ago now that it was December. Rose never talked about it. Juleka never talked about it. It was supposed to disappear, but it didn't.

"Rose, do you remember-"

"Oh look! Fenocchio was closer than the GPS said," Rose interrupted as she spotted the ice cream parlor. "Come on Juleka!" She pulled the taller girl inside.

"Bonjour!" said one of the workers as they entered the shop.

"Bonjour!" Rose greeted. She pulled Juleka to the glass which protected the 100 ice cream flavors of absolut wonder and absurdity.

"Is that... cactus flavored ice cream?" Juleka wrinkled up her nose.

"I've never tried it," Rose said. She looked at the options before circling back to the cactus flavored one, "I think I'm gonna be bold tonight!"

"What if it tastes bad?" Juleka asked.

"Then I tried it for the experience and won't get the cactus flavor again!" Rose said. The worker who'd greeted them was now scooping her the cactus flavored ice cream as she asked for it. Juleka looked at the others. She was usually a vanilla plain girl. She wasn't one for trying new things. Rose glanced at her. "Try something you'd normally never get, it'll be fun!"

"I only like... vanilla..."

"Hey! There's a lavender flavor that looks like your hair!"

"What-"

"Omg it would be so cute if you matched your ice cream!" Rose giggled as the worker handed her the ice cream cone.

"C-cute?" Juleka said, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. She felt ridiculous when she ordered the lavender flavor on the basis of being cute for Rose. She felt stupid, really. She hoped it would taste ok... like vanilla.

They sat outside at a niche little table. The sun was setting, now, and the city was beginning to light up like a thousand stars. As if that would make up for the air pollution. It was still pretty, once one could look past the garbage piled all over the streets.

"So," Rose began to say, putting a little spoon in her ice cream and taking the tiniest bite, "does the dance last until midnight- OH! It tastes like key lime!"

"Huh?" Juleka raised a brow.

"Cactus flavor!"

"Oh."

"Anyways, the dance."

"I think it's over at midnight."

"That's pretty late. But who cares! Christmas break is coming and we don't have school tomorrow! Are you excited for Christmas yet?"

"I'm not sure," Juleka admitted. "I'm not really into Christmasy stuff."

"I love Christmas! I get to see my family from the south. Sometimes we visit them–they live near the border of Italy, you know–but I think this year they're coming up to Paris for Christmas!"

"That's nice," Juleka mumbled.

"What is your family doing for Christmas?" Rose asked.

"I don't know... We're not big on family stuff."

"How's Luka doing? I haven't seen him much since he dropped out."

"Better now. I think his social dysphoria is better, at least. I don't know. He hardly talks to me now."

"But you're twins!"

"He's always with his friends. He's starting a band."

"That sounds fun!"

"I guess so," Juleka said, glancing away. "Hey uh... do you remember-"

"Does Luka have a job- oh, were you gonna say something?"

"N-no, it's fine," Juleka said, taking a bite of her ice cream. It tasted like straight up perfume. She didn't like it at all, but didn't have the courage to say anything.

"Noooo say it!" Rose whined.

"It's stupid."

"No it's not! What was it?"

"Fine. Do you remember... Halloween..."

"Yeah," Rose said, suddenly avoiding Juleka's eyes. "I thought Adrien's dad straight up died. Everyone was acting weird too."

"No like- uhm..."

"The closet game?"

"Uh-"

"When we kissed?"

"Ugh-" Juleka ducked her head, her face heating up bright red.

"That was the point of the game, right?"

"Huh?" Juleka looked up.

"You get sacrificed to the closet at random and have to kiss or... makeout or do weird shit..." Rose said, halfway through her icecream already.

"Well, I don't think anyone actually did that. You just do whatever."

"Why'd you wanna talk about it?" Rose asked.

"N-nothing."

"I just can't believe Prince Ali was there!" Rose said. "I mean, he didn't say anything to me but oh my gosh, I'm so lucky to be in Chloe's class. She gets to see him all the time, I swear."

"P-prince Ali?"

"Yeah. I wish I would've mustered up the courage to talk to him."

"Bummer." Juleka stared at her shoes. For some reason, she felt like she was about to cry.

***

The gym of the school had been completely transformed into a blue, silver, and white wonderland. It felt like the students were encased in a magnificent dance hall. Though, most agreed it seemed like an American prom. The girls all had a wide array of dress types. Some were more casual and short, while some decided to dress like it was their quinceanera. Marinete had a dress that went just below her knees, black and fluffy with straps at the skirt that held it over her white puffy button-up shirt. She didn't necessarily look like she'd designed the outfit herself, but she actually had. It wasn't nearly as glamorous as everyone else's.

It was getting a bit awkward pretending to be Nathaniel's boyfriend, especially when everyone expected them to dance together on the slow songs. Marinette wanted to hang out with Alya, but Alya seemed confident enough to dance with Nino (which was more of just Nino dancing around her while she stood with her crutches. For most of the night, she had to sit in her wheelchair.) Nathaniel was also behaving rather weirdly. On any song where Marinette decided she needed a break and went to the snack table, she'd immediately lose sight of him and have to start a solo manhunt for the redhead. Everytime she found him hanging around Marc, who Marinette still had hardly spoken to. She was glad he made a friend outside of Marinette's friend group.

"Hey, Nathan," Marinette spoke up as she was exiting the dance floor with him again. She wanted to speak with him before he ran off again.

"Hmm?"

"Why don't you ask Marc to dance with you? I don't think he's even touched the gym floor yet," Marinette suggested.

"W-what?" Nathaniel's eyes widened. "No-"

"You're his friend, right?"

"Well, sorta? I haven't really hung around him too much."

"It's just a suggestion. Or maybe I'll ask him myself," she smirked.

"Please don't."

"Are you alright?" Marinette asked.

"Yeah," he said in a tone that definitely said he wasn't ok.

"Nathan..."

"I'm fine."

"Come here," Marinette demanded, dragging him to the outskirts of the gym into one of the halls where kids usually would hang around to vape during school hours. No one wanted to be there during the dance since it smelled so terrible. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothings going on with me."

"I don't believe that for a second," Marinette folded her arms. Nathaniel just stood there, hanging his head low sullenly.

"Ok, well," he sighed, "I had a big fight with my parents yesterday and in the end I think... I don't think I'm going to go to the art school I wanted."

"What?" Marinette's eyes widened. She'd jumped to conclusions after witnessing him sneak off to talk to Marc so much that night that she'd forgotten that Nathaniel's main reason for fake dating Marinette was actually about him going to the college he wanted. It wasn't her being a "beard" from some fictional fantasy bl comic, this was her covering for him so he could pursue his future career. If the college thing wasn't an issue for him, she probably wouldn't have ever gotten so close to him in the first place.

"It is expensive but I've been taking online commissions for the past few years to get the money for it," Nathaniel says, "it helps but it's not quite enough, so I've been applying to a lot of scholarships. It's just that... I can't do it if my parents stop financially supporting me."

"Ah.." Marinette said.

"I may get the money for the tuition but I need their help for basic things like being able to pay for food," Nathaniel sighed. "I told Marc about it a few weeks ago when we started to become friends. His parents are the complete opposite. He actually wants to go to the same school as me for a writing degree and his parents are basically covering everything for him. They're thrilled about his dream to make writing his career."

"Well, that's good for him, but what about you Nathaniel?" Marinette asked, "Is this solely because of the whole phobia thing going on with your parents or is it... more than that?"

"There's so much more," Nathaniel ran his fingers anxiously through his hair which Marinette had meticulously braided into a viking style side braid before the dance started. He nearly ruined her work with his clumsy fingers, but Marinette didn't mind. She could practically see his stress radiating in the air.

"Well, how can I help?"

"You're already doing a lot for me by just pretending to date me, Marinette. I can't ask you to do anything else," Nathaniel said. "I'll figure it out. I think my grandma wants to assist in my financial problem but she also doesn't know about all the issues going on."

"It's ok, Nathaniel. You've been working so hard. Your parents only have the power that you give them. You can leave them, if you need. You're an adult, Nathan."

"I know-"

"But you don't need to be thinking about that tonight. This is supposed to be a fun thing! It's our last year, go do something crazy!"

"Crazy?"

"Have fun, Nathaniel. We don't have to be glued to each other the whole night. I know you want to hang out with your friend, and I want to hang out with mine. Your parents aren't here to inspect your every move, so just go out there and be yourself," Marinette said, urging him out of the hall.

"But-"

"Have fun, Nathaniel! For Pete's sake, just let yourself be happy."

"Fine!" Nathaniel finally broke a smile. "Geez, you're so pushy."

"It's all with good intention," Marinette said. "Now I dare you to go ask Marc to dance! Okay byeeee!" Marinette trotted away before Nathaniel could protest.

Nathaniel was a mess inside and out but that wasn't going to be in his face that night. Marinette was right, he shouldn't be thinking about going to college or his problems at home. He needed to be happy, for once. He needed to let himself be happy.

He slithered along the outskirts of the dance, avoiding everyone. He needed some quiet for a moment but he was pretty sure if he went outside again, Marinette would spawn in front of him and throw him back inside. He didn't see the worth in having to do that, so he just kept under the awnings of the second floor above him. But after a few songs had passed, he decided it was too loud for him, so he went upstairs where there was only a handful of people sprinkled about. No one would be looking at him.

He thought about what Marinette had said. Your parents only have the power that you give them. What did that mean? They had control over just about every part of his life. So much control that he wasn't even allowed to develop a crush on a boy, or draw the things he wanted to draw, or have the friends he wanted to have. He liked Marinette and her friend group, but he didn't feel he connected with them all too much. Lately, Juleka had been coming out of her shell and talking to people a little more. He felt like he got along with her really well, and it just clicked. Same for Rose, and Alix. Those were the friends he wanted to hang out with. But his parents didn't really approve of Juleka for being a goth AND having a transgender brother, or Rose since she was so feminine and girly. Despite the Rose factor, Nathaniel also wasn't allowed to be Alix's friend, for she was too boyish.

His parents had never even heard of Marc, though.

Thinking of Marc only made Nathaniel think of college, but this time, it wasn't so negative. Both of them wanted to go to the art school in Lacoste. Even though they'd be majoring in separate things, it was nice knowing there would be a familiar face there with him, and he wouldn't be so alone.

As if thinking of Marc summoned him, the black haired boy appeared at the top of the stairs near the railing Nathaniel had leaned himself up against. Marc smiled at him.

"I saw you up here and figured you wouldn't mind the company," Marc said, reaching the top step of the stairs and joining Nathaniel at the rail.

"I don't mind," Nathaniel said, ignoring the fact that he'd come up here solely to avoid people.

"Well, hello then," Marc snickered.

"Hi."