After her training session with Draal; with a total of 3 out of 6 matches against her opponent, Marinette headed back home for dinner. Following that was her usual video call with Jim and Toby for their daily recap, where she told them her plans to leave Lila alone from then on before going off to patrol with Chat Noir. While the boys were a little miffed to hear Marinette was already throwing in the towel, they understood and supported her. The good mood resulting from the video carried on to Ladybug's performance for patrol, leading to her and Chat Noir having a little race through the city afterwards. When the time came to go back to her house, Marinette only had seconds to mutter her de-transformation phrase before flopping face-first onto her bed and falling asleep.

The next morning was more befitting Marinette's habits, starting with her sleeping through her first three alarms like clockwork. Snowballing from there, Marinette raced to eat breakfast and arrived at school seconds before the bell rang for the first period. With her being late, Marinette didn't have a chance to talk to Lila before class or during their mid-morning break on account of needing to help Alya with proofreading her upcoming article for the Ladyblog. Fortunately for Marinette, no akuma attacked that day and left her lunch break free to finally talk to Lila after once again letting Jim know she wouldn't be present for their usual call.

"Alright, here we go." Marinette quietly declared with her lunch tray in hand, prompting Tikki to pop her head out of her holder's purse and look up at her.

"Good luck, Marinette." Tikki encouraged the girl, a smile appearing on her tiny face.

"Thanks, Tikki." Marinette thanked her kwami before finally walking over to Lila, causing Tikki to hide back inside Marinette's purse just as Lila looked up from her lunch and saw her coming.

"Oh my god." Lila groaned to herself, shaking her head with a roll of her eyes before going to glare at the incoming Marinette. "Has anyone told you that you are annoyingly persistent?" the Italian girl tiredly questioned the girl in front of her, having had enough of Marinette's attempts despite it only being the second day of trying to connect with her.

"Many times as of late." Marinette replied as she placed her lunch tray on the table next to Lila, sitting next to her seconds later. "But it hasn't failed me yet, and I am determined to break through your walls." the designer declared, earning a tired sigh from Lila in response before deciding to tell Marinette to bugger off.

"Look, I already told you-" "But, I'm willing to let this be the first time." Marinette interrupted, to which Lila immediately stopped talking and stared at her in shock.

"I want to say I'm sorry for how I was yesterday. I was being overzealous when trying to offer my friendship to you and that wasn't what I wanted to do at all." the designer continued, further leaving Lila surprised by her words when hearing the apology.

"Okay...?" Lila said in a skeptical tone, leaning away from Marinette a little out of worry about the girl having been replaced by a body snatcher.

"After your akumatization, I admittedly felt sorry for you at the time and wanted to help you feel more welcomed here. And since our talk yesterday, I had some time to reflect and realized that I was forcing my friendship onto you." Marinette explained, bashfully rubbing the back of her neck as she spoke.

"Well, I wouldn't say you went that far. You were only a little pushy." Lila reflected as she looked down at her tray, now playing with her food with her fork. "But why were you acting like that?" the olive-eyed girl asked, sending an intrigued stare at a suddenly silent Marinette.

"I know what it's like not to have any close friends. Up until this year, I was an outcast in my year group and was only acquainted with my classmates except Nino." Marinette admitted, looking at the floor to her left for a second before redirecting her focus back onto Lila. "I was hoping to help you not feel the same way here, but then ended up not listening to you when you said you wanted the opposite." the pigtailed girl added, offering a small smile to the Italian to try and smooth things over a little.

"So, I hereby announce that I'll be leaving you to do your own thing. You don't have to worry about me bothering you about being friends again." Marinette declared as she got up from her seat, followed by grabbing her lunch and standing up from the bench. "But maybe we can become friends later on." the red-tipped-haired girl said, now going to leave Lila on her lonesome. However, just as she was about to take another step...

"Wait." Lila spoke up, suddenly grabbing Marinette's wrist and stopping her in her tracks. "Okay, I'll admit it. I am lonely." the Italian girl finally said, causing Marinette to turn and face her with an expectant look in her eyes.

"Growing up, I moved around a lot because of my parent's job working in the Italian embassy." Lila began, looking at the ground as she started her tale. "While I got to go to many cool places, I didn't stay long enough to make any permanent friends. At best I spent eight months in a single school before moving again." the olive-eyed girl went on, a small rueful huff escaping her lips afterwards.

"After the second or third move, I started lying about my life to make myself look better to my classmates. Figured it would be the best way to have some form of friends in the short time I was there. But it never worked in keeping in touch with them after I left." Lila remarked, now looking back up at Marinette before letting her hand go. "So when my parents were stationed here indefinitely, I decided to throw down roots and make myself appealing enough to have people trying to befriend me." the Italian explained, a frown appearing on her face the more she spoke about her situation.

"Unfortunately, it backfired when Ladybug called me out on my lie about her and I knew that I couldn't try that here without repercussions." Lila noted, pouting as she remembered that day. "So I decided to keep to myself to prevent losing the little admiration from our classmates that I have. I already messed up once, I can't afford to do so again." the olive-eyed girl concluded, bringing a small smile to Marinette's face when hearing Lila's confession.

"See, now was that so hard to admit?" Marinette asked Lila, who looked at her in surprise before it suddenly turned into a smirk.

"You little minx!" Lila exclaimed, impressed by Marinette's unintentional trick. "That was a good misdirect. Props to you." the Italian girl praised, bowing her head at Marinette in respect.

"Thank you. Contrary to your earlier belief, I can be sneaky when I want to be." Marinette said as she sat down next to Lila again, glad to have a new opening to connect with her.

"Clearly. You got me good." Lila admitted.

"But I wasn't trying to trick you, though. I did intend to leave you to come to me when you were ready." Marinette clarified, hoping to avoid any misunderstandings going forward.

"Well, that's nice to know." Lila replied, a slightly amused smile replacing her smirk. "And I suppose I'd be willing to open up a bit more if you are." the olive-eyed girl decided, her arms rising a bit from the table as she shrugged her shoulders in a yielding manner.

"What do you want to know?" Marinette questioned the chestnut-haired girl, willing to abide by her offered quid-pro-quo.

"First off, why did you stalk me on my first day?" Lila began, now looking to probe Marinette for how she found out about her lies so quickly.

"To be honest, I was only following you when I saw you take Adrien's book from him in the library." Marinette admitted, directing her gaze to her lunch so that she could eat while explaining herself.

"So you were eavesdropping on me and Adrien?" Lila questioned, eyebrow cocked at Marinette as she stared at her.

"I was in the library to get a book for class and just happened to be near you. I didn't even hear your conversation with Adrien." Marinette explained before she put a forkful of pear salad into her mouth, trying to be as truthful as possible. "Though, I have to ask... why did you throw Adrien's book into the garbage? I get that you needed to keep Adrien from seeing it, but you could have slipped it into your bag." the designer asked, hoping to scratch that particular itch she had about that day as she chewed her mouthful of food.

"Eh, I panicked. Was the first thing I could think of." Lila admitted, shrugging her shoulders.

"I wish it wasn't. My arm ended up stinking for the rest of the day when I got the book out of it." Marinette complained as she ate her lunch, wincing at the reminder while she could feel Tikki squirming around in her purse.

"Was wondering what happened to that book. Especially when I heard what happened to Adrien after he lost it." Lila mused aloud, her gaze looking at Marinette once again as she followed her example and resumed eating her own lunch. "Were you the one who gave it back?" the Italian girl questioned, even though she knew that was most likely the case with what she already heard about Marinette.

"Yeah, I was." Marinette replied as she started eating her main dish, confirming Lila's suspicions.

"And I'm assuming that Adrien knows?" Lila continued, letting herself lean towards Marinette while sending another critical glance at the other girl.

"No, I asked his father not to say anything to him about it." Marinette answered, leaving Lila surprised and gawking at her once more as she kept eating.

"So they don't know that..." Lila trailed off.

"That you took it? No. Why would you think I would rat you out?" Marinette questioned Lila, not seeing how she would assume that.

"Can you blame me? I didn't exactly act very law-abiding that day." Lila pointed out, a tired eye roll accompanying her statement before getting to the remaining parts of her lunch.

"Okay, good point." Marinette relented, knowing she was right before spearing the last of her salad with her fork. "But I didn't see the reason for throwing you under the bus for a misguided attempt to make yourself more appealing." the pigtailed girl stated, leaving Lila to look at her cheekily once again.

"Sounds like you have a rep for letting others walk away from their wrongdoings." Lila observed as she watched Marinette eat her last forkful of salad, taking it all off the utensil with no problem.

"It's something I'm not proud of, but I've only just been putting my foot down about the misdeeds I see." Marinette admitted, taking care to make sure not to let any small bits of food escape her mouth as she spoke.

"How come?" Lila asked as she reached for her bowl of fruit, followed by stabbing her fork into it to grab some of the pieces within.

"Like I said before, I was an outcast in my year group up until this year. But that was because Chloé used me as her punching bag for years." Marinette revealed, watching as Lila started eating her fruit and stopping when hearing Marinette's recount of her past years at school.

"I saw that name when researching the class ahead of my first day. She's the Mayor's daughter, right?" Lila questioned Marinette, earning a surprised stare from her upon hearing the Italian's words.

"You researched our classmates?" Marinette interrogated Lila, sending an inquisitive eyebrow at her while she began eating her fruit bowl too.

"Are you judging?" Lila asked, sending a deadpan stare at Marinette before eating a strawberry from her provided fruit bowl.

"No, I'm just surprised." Marinette replied, impressed by Lila's preparation for their class. "But yeah, Chloé is the Mayor's daughter. And that came with its own set of problems." the red-tipped-haired girl added with a sigh, resting her cheek on her propped-up hand as she did so.

"What sort of problems?" Lila questioned as she finished eating her strawberry, followed by going for the last pieces of fruit and eating them.

"Since Chloé's dad is the mayor, she thinks she's above everyone and that they should be revering her like a goddess." Marinette explained, looking at the ground off to her left as she told Lila about the hierarchy of their school. "But while she bullied the entire school, she liked to take out her wrath on me the most." the designer admitted with a frown, re-averting her stare back onto Lila as she spoke.

"And that's why you said the others wouldn't be the first to help you. They let you be bullied to avoid being her patsy." Lila breathed out in realization, her eyes wide as she looked at Marinette in shock and slight... wonder?

"Pretty much." Marinette confirmed with a curt nod, a forlorn look in her eyes.

"And here I thought I had bad luck with making friends." Lila remarked as she put her bowl back onto her tray, her lips pursed together as she winced at the news. "But, why are you still friends with them if they didn't help you?" the olive-eyed girl probed, curious to know the answer seeing as Marinette didn't seem tolerant of disloyalty.

"I told you yesterday that I like giving people the benefit of the doubt. Plus, I don't blame them for staying out of the way. Chloé was a total bitch and I wouldn't wish my three years of torment onto anyone." Marinette elaborated, reaching for a grape from her fruit bowl and popping it into her mouth.

"Wow... You are the most forgiving and also the most unpredictable person I've ever met." Lila observed, not believing how kind Marinette was as she gawked at the girl with concern.

"I'll take that as a compliment." Marinette said, finishing her grape before going to reach for the last of her fruit.

"It's not." Lila countered, sending a deadpanned look at Marinette. "I'm almost scared to hear about your love life." the Italian added as she grabbed her glass, lifting it to her mouth to take a sip of water.

"That's less complicated. I've only had a crush on one guy in my life." Marinette simply replied, immediately causing Lila to spit-take in surprise and turn to gawk at her in disbelief.

"Seriously!? You're 14 and haven't had a crush on anyone except for one guy? That can't be right. There had to be more than that!" Lila squawked, throwing her hands at Marinette as she processed the new fact about the designer.

"Well... I admittedly entertained a passing interest in Kim last year." Marinette shyly admitted, once again looking at the floor while rubbing the back of her neck.

" 'Passing interest' is another way to say you had a crush on him." Lila argued, pointing an accusatory finger at Marinette now that she learned of this little tidbit.

"Not in this case, thanks to Chloé." Marinette sighed, letting her arms rest on the table as she looked at her tray in slight dismay and ruefulness while Lila's eyes lit up with her growing interest.

"Okay, now I got to know what happened." Lila declared, an excited smile appearing on her face as she leaned towards the midnight-haired girl for an answer. But seconds after Marinette looked back at her, the bell rang throughout the school before she could respond to Lila's question.

"Looks like that might have to wait a little bit." Marinette remarked as she glanced up at the bell, a small smirk on her lips before giving Lila a side-eye as she backed away from her.

"Ugh, why does the bell ring at the worst possible times?" Lila groaned, her hands clenching on air as they flew above her head in exasperation.

"You seem disappointed about not opening up to me when you weren't so keen to do so earlier." Marinette remarked, her smirk growing as she looked at Lila cheekily and caused the chestnut-haired girl to glance at her again and let her arms fall back to the table.

"What can I say? You've piqued my interest." Lila replied while the surrounding students started leaving the room, recovering her composure as she sent a new smirk at the class representative for her retort. What could Lila say? She was starting to enjoy the rapport she and Marinette were having at the moment.

"In that case, how about you come to my house after school? I can tell you more then." Marinette asked slyly, leaning against the table with her right palm opening up to face the ceiling while resting her arm on its elbow.

"You'd invite me to your house the very day I decided to be open to you?" Lila questioned Marinette incredulously, throwing her left hand at the girl with a critical glare before it suddenly fell. "Oh, what am I saying, of course you are." the Italian girl mumbled with a sigh, her hand dropping to her side once more.

"So does this mean you are accepting my invitation or not?" Marinette retried, wanting to get a definite answer to her previous request.

"With a cliffhanger like that, how can I not? Besides, I don't need to head home until 5 pm. So I don't mind the time killer till then." Lila happily replied, the last of the other students finally leaving the cafeteria.

"You could have just said a plain old 'yes', but I get the message." Marinette commented before she stood up from the table, grabbing her tray once she was up. "So, I'll meet you at the front of the school after class is over?" the pigtailed girl asked Lila, who followed her example and stood up from the table to leave as well.

"Sounds like a plan. And I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm excited to hang out with you." Lila announced, bringing a smile to Marinette's face as they walked up to put their trays into the dirty dishes pile.

"Same here, Lila. Same here." Marinette replied as they walked out of the lunch room and headed off to class, unaware of a smiling Tikki poking her head out of Marinette's purse and looking up at the two girls.

'That turned out better than I thought it would.' Tikki internally remarked, happy that Marinette's apology went so well. 'Here's to hoping it goes well.' the red kwami thought to herself before heading back into her holder's purse, hoping that it would be the case.

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Now that she finally connected to Lila, Marinette's excitement was basically bursting through every one of her pores as she went through her remaining classes. Fortunately for Marinette, art and math classes went by rather fast compared to how they usually did when she had something to do after school. So when the bell rang, the secret superheroine was speeding through packing her bag to get out of the math classroom to make sure she wasn't late to meet up with Lila. It didn't take long to see Lila coming out of the front door after she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, smiling at the Italian as she joined her.

After they met up, they made their way over to Marinette's house in no time at all... which surprised Lila to find out how close Marinette lived to school. Seeing as she was late most of the time, it didn't make sense on paper for Marinette to live so close and not get in before the bell rang. Once the shock passed, the two girls went inside the bakery and Marinette introduced Lila to her mother as soon as they approached the front counter. Following a pleasant introduction of the two females, Marinette and Lila headed up to the apartment part of the building with mixed berry and chocolate tarts and various pastries to boot. From there, it was tricky to open the trapdoor to Marinette's room with the trays of treats in their hands, but the girls managed to make it inside with little trouble.

"Well, here we are! Come on up!" Marinette chirped as she stepped into her room with one of the trays, Lila following after her with another.

"It's so... pink." Lila noted as she looked around the room, slight apprehension filling her inspection.

"It's my favorite color." Marinette stated, setting her tray on her desk with a smile.

"Clearly." Lila remarked as she did the same.

"But I have been thinking of repainting them to a different color. Maybe cream white or pale pink to let more natural light in." Marinette admitted as she knelt on the floor, starting to unpack the backpack full of her school stuff for later.

"Eh, it suits you. No need to change it." Lila assured her, placing her own bag beside Marinette's desk chair and stretching her tired arms above her head as well.

"Thanks, Lila. And please make yourself at home. You are a guest here after all." Marinette said as she finished unpacking her bag, rising to her feet. "Have a seat and relax." the red-tipped-haired girl urged her guest as she cracked her back, gesturing to her chaise with her right hand.

"Don't mind if I do." Lila happily replied while grabbing a tart and sitting down, soon looking around the room to take it in before taking a bite from the treat. "Mmm, that is really good! Your parents are top-notch bakers." the olive-eyed girl praised, her eyes lighting up in her delight.

"What happened to having tried better deserts?" Marinette questioned her guest, sending a smug smirk at Lila as she regained her normal posture.

"That was meant in terms of fanciness. But in terms of taste and homey feels, these take the cake!" Lila joyfully corrected once she swallowed the first bite, her left pointer finger rising from her hand to emphasize her claim. But when Lila took another bite, Marinette couldn't help the smile that appeared on her lips at the compliment on her family's creations as she walked over to the chaise after grabbing one of the trays.

"I'm glad to hear it. And I'm sure my parents will like to hear that later as well." Marinette said as she sat down next to Lila, her left leg coming to rest on top of her right one in the process of setting the tray down in between them.

"Wonderful." Lila cheered before taking another bite from her tart, once again looking around the room as she finished her mouthful. "And just for the record, other than the color of the walls, this room is really cool." the chestnut-haired girl clarified, casually leaning back on the chaise with her free hand.

"Thanks. Would you like a tour?" Marinette offered, biting into her tart with a stifled moan of enjoyment.

"Maybe another time. I'm more interested in that story you were about to tell before lunch ended." Lila responded before popping the last of her tart into her mouth and eating it, eager to continue their little conversation from lunch.

"I figured as much." Marinette reflected, following Lila's example and tossing the last of her tart into her mouth to eat in one gulp. "Alright, I'll tell you. But keep in mind that only one person I'm close with knows this, so I'm trusting you not to blab about this." the designer stressed as she turned her body to fully face Lila, who quickly nodded in agreement.

"Normally, I would promise someone to do so and use the information against them. But I'm starting to like you, so I won't say anything." Lila stated, which brought a cautious look to Marinette's features at her claim.

"That's... reassuring?" Marinette replied, her voice filled with unsureness from hearing Lila's words while rearranging her legs to sit more comfortably.

"That's all the promise I can give you until I know your story." Lila said, reaching for another tart from the tray. "So, spill the tea, please." the Italian girl requested, turning to face Marinette and placing her chin on her propped-up arms as her elbows rested on her knees.

"Okay, fine." Marinette relented, knowing that it would be best to get it over and done with as soon as possible."It started at the end of last year when I had started to branch out from the timid behavior I was known for because of Chloé's bullying." the pigtailed girl began, leaning into the back of her chaise as she reluctantly started her story.

"It wasn't very much, seeing as I was still being bullied by Chloé non-stop. She did everything imaginable to make my life a living Hell." Marinette went on as she reached for a croissant from the tray, taking a bit out of it. "She would stuff my locker with cockroaches, send anonymous tips to Mr Damocles to rat me out for being late, cover my chairs with all sorts of horrible stuff so that it would ruin my clothes." the red-tipped-haired girl continued while eating her pastry, taking care to not let any of her food fly out of her mouth as she spoke.

"And to top it all off, she basically did everything possible for me to get stuck with detention and make me afraid to even come to school." Marinette huffed, the hand holding her croissant resting on her left knee while her right arm waved around in the air next to her to add emphasis to her tale.

"Wow... and here I thought some of the snotty girls at my old schools were bad." Lila remarked, staring at Marinette with slight worry after hearing how she was treated. "But what does that have to do with your so-called 'passing interest' with Kim?" the olive-eyed girl questioned her host, not understanding why she was still talking about Chloé's treatment of her in the years previous.

"Well, I tried to see if he was worth investing a crush on and asked if he wanted to hang out at the pool." Marinette replied as she took another bite of her pastry with a rueful smile, clarifying that little detail before she frowned to herself. "But... it didn't end very well." the designer trailed off, looking at the ground just in time to miss Lila's curious stare.

"What happened?" Lila asked, followed by taking a bite out of her second tart.

"After I asked Kim to hang out, I can only assume Chloé told him some really bad advice that he used. When we finished our swim in the pool, Kim and I went to hang out on the top of the diving platforms and he gave me what I thought was a gift." Marinette explained, stuffing the last of her croissant into her mouth and eating it in two seconds flat before going on. "The gift turned out to be a small box full of black widow spiders." the pigtailed girl shamefully admitted, looking at her suddenly twiddling fingers with a somber look in her eyes.

"Oh... my god!" Lila shrieked, appalled by what she just heard.

"I was so freaked out that when I was trying to get them off me, I slipped from the platform and landed right into the pool." Marinette regaled, her gaze going from her hands to the floor amid her distress of remembering that day. "And the cherry on top of it, I saw Chloé smiling as she watched and recorded the whole thing as I fell." the red-tipped-haired girl cried, throwing her arms out in her disbelief of Chloé's past deed.

"That's horrible! Why would she be so mean to you?" Lila exclaimed, letting her tart-occupied hand drop to the chaise while her other hand flew into the air between them when gesturing to the girl across from her.

"I don't know. But that was the worst she has ever been since I've known her." Marinette replied in a tired voice, placing her right hand on her forehead to soothe an oncoming headache. "Honestly, if it wasn't for Alya, I wouldn't have become more confident in myself." the designer admitted, letting her hand drop from her head and back to her side.

"Does she know about this?" Lila asked, an inquisitive eyebrow cocked at Marinette.

"No, she doesn't. Only one person does." Marinette answered, reaching for another tart to soothe her already frayed nerves.

"Who is it?" Lila probed, taking another bite of her tart amid her curiosity.

"Remember how I said I was an outcast in my year group up until this year? Well, I did have one close friend in the year above." Marinette continued, followed by her taking out half of the tart in her hand in one bite after she spoke. "Her name was Socqueline Wang. Her mom is friends with my mom and we were friends by default. But we were really close when going to school together." the pigtailed girl went on, revealing yet another tidbit of her life to Lila.

"She was there when I asked Kim to hang out with me and warned me that it was a bad idea." Marinette admitted, looking off to the side with a soft smile as she remembered her supportive friend. "Obviously, I didn't listen to her. But even then, Socqueline came to the pool to comfort me after the incident... and more too." the red-tipped-haired girl trailed off, not quite yet wanting to admit the remaining details of that day.

"By that, you mean?" Lila asked before taking another bite of her tart, still wanting to know more.

"Socqueline prevented the video from being posted by breaking the phone Chloé used to film my fall, but it really pissed her off. Had I listened to her, I would have avoided being burned like that and she wouldn't have been suspended thanks to Chloé forcing Mr Damocles to do so." Marinette explained, only to look away from the ground and back at Lila. "Socqueline only tried to help me and she got punished for it." the designer stated, a sad look in her eyes as she spoke.

"What a spineless coward." Lila snarled, once again shocked by how bad Marinette had it before this current school year.

"Yeah, he can be." Marinette agreed, a wince appearing on her features at the thought before finishing her second tart.

"But if your classmates know how Chloé treated you, does Adrien know since he's new this year? I know you said Alya doesn't know, so I'm curious about his take on this." Lila questioned Marinette, also finishing her tart as she waited for an answer.

"I... never told him." Marinette shamefully admitted as she looked at the ground on her right, her hands clasping together in front of her out of nervousness while Lila gawked at her in surprise.

"Why not?" Lila inquired as she schooled her shock to a more manageable level, going to reach for a chocolate croissant from the tray.

"I'm not proud of how timid I was in previous years. While the rest of the class knows about Chloé bullying me and knows what happened at the pool last year, I don't want my newest friends to know about it." Marinette elaborated, her hands releasing themselves while she sat up from her reclined posture.

"Fair enough. I know I'd want as few people to know about my embarrassing moments." Lila reflected, knowing that she definitely had a similar desire thanks to her interaction with Ladybug. "And that's not even going into how Kim was so horrible to do that to you. Why did he even think that was such a good idea?" the chestnut-haired girl probed, genuinely curious as to why Marinette was still friends with him from what she'd seen in class and at the girl's birthday party.

"In Kim's defense, he apologized to me profusely after he saw how badly I reacted to his... little joke. He's a good guy once you get past the bad sense of humor and obliviousness." Marinette assured Lila, looking back at her with a lopsided smile to carry her point across. "At least I've grown from that part of my life and I'm now stronger because of it." the pigtailed girl announced, her smile turning genuine as she reflected on her growth.

"Not to mention how I've gotten a lot better at designing since last year, too." Marinette added before pointing to the designs pinned on the wall near her desk, causing Lila to avert her gaze to said wall while getting another pastry.

"These are yours? I honestly thought that a professional made them." Lila gushed, taking a bite out of her treat as she took in the designs.

"Yeah, they're mine. Some of my best work to date." Marinette confirmed, smiling with pride. "Especially this one." the red-tipped-haired girl continued before getting up from her chaise and going to her desk, quickly pulling the 'Geode Hat' from its storage box to show it off.

"Oh my..." Lila breathed out as she stood up from the chaise as well, setting her remaining pastry down while staring at the hat in awe as she walked towards Marinette. "This is amazing!" the Italian girl squealed, reaching out for the hat when she was close enough.

"May I?" Lila requested, looking at Marinette for consent to touch the hat.

"Of course. But it's not finished yet, so please be gentle." Marinette said as she handed the hat to Lila, who gently took it and raised it to her eyes for a closer look.

"It's so pretty. And the detail is so intricate!" Lila raved as she turned the hat around in her hands, taking in every little detail she could.

"Thank you. It's definitely taken me a while to get it to this stage." Marinette confessed, bashfully rubbing the back of her neck while her cheeks turned red in her flustered state at the compliment. "I call it the 'Geode Hat', by the way. It's inspired by a geode exhibit I saw last year." the designer explained, prompting Lila to look up from the hat and back at her.

"Is this a commission or something more prestigious?" Lila asked, even more curious as to who would be receiving this piece of art.

"No, it's a gift actually." Marinette replied.

"For who?" Lila probed, a questioning eyebrow sent in Marinette's direction.

"Someone I'm close to. He's the one who took me to the exhibit that inspired it in the first place." Marinette admitted, her smile growing when remembering that time with Toby and Jim the previous summer.

"They sound like they're really nice if they helped inspire such a beautiful piece. I can't wait to see what it looks like when finished." Lila said, still amazed by the design in her hands.

"He is, and thank you. I'm excited for the finished product, too." Marinette concurred, watching as Lila kept on admiring her work. "But this isn't the only geode-inspired design I have." the pigtailed girl slyly revealed, causing Lila to once again look up from analyzing the hat and back at her.

"It isn't?" Lila asked as she handed the hat back to Marinette, now even more curious as to the specifics of her host's claim.

"No, it's not." Marinette confirmed as she placed the hat back into the box, then went to her bag to get her sketchbook out from inside. "Care to see them?" the red-tipped-haired girl questioned Lila as she went through her book, soon landing on the aforementioned designs.

"Considering how beautiful your 'Geode Hat' is, how can I say 'no'?" Lila rhetorically queried, knowing that she would love nothing more.

"Then sit down and get comfy. This might take a little bit." Marinette instructed her guest, prompting Lila to sit down on the chaise before Marinette sat next to her, eager to show her the designs she had made so far.

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After Marinette and Lila sat down on her chaise, the up-and-coming designer continued to show the Italian girl the rest of her geode-inspired designs. Her non-geode-themed designs were shown after those, once again leaving Lila amazed by what she saw in both talent and vision. By the time the girls finished eating half the pastries, Lila asked to see any other finished designs and was even more in awe of the pieces when she found herself faux-modeling them.

"Marinette, these are amazing! And I've seen a lot of good pieces in my time." Lila praised, taking off a dark gray and cerulean ombré cardigan that Marinette knitted herself and folding it before putting it onto the desk.

"How, if you don't mind me asking?" Marinette probed, coming over to put her designs away now that Lila was done trying them on.

"My mère works at Style Queen magazine as a personal stylist. She's taken me to her work many times and I've been able to see all the looks they use in their magazine." Lila explained, which left Marinette so shocked by the news that she almost dropped the contents in her arms.

"No way! Your mom works at the magazine company of the most influential and harshest fashion critic in the world?! That's amazing!" Marinette gushed, holding her designs close to her chest as she hopped up and down in her excitement. But when she finally processed Lila's statement, Marinette's excitement suddenly dropped. "Wait a minute... didn't you say that your mom was a diplomat at lunch?" the designer questioned Lila, remembering that little detail while she sent a skeptical look at her guest.

"Yeah, I did. And before you ask, she's still working at the embassy here in Paris." Lila reassured, which only left Marinette even more confused.

"So... how is that possible? Do you have two moms or something?" Marinette asked. "Not judging by the way. I'm just trying to make sense of this." the pigtailed girl quickly amended, hoping to avoid offending Lila.

"Fair enough. And to answer your question, I actually have three moms." Lila replied, once again leaving Marinette in surprise at the reveal of new information.

"Really? Wow. I got to say, I didn't expect that." Marinette said as she put her designs away, a mirthful look on her face before looking back at Lila.

"No one really does. But when I do tell people, they aren't very open to hear about how it's possible." Lila admitted, thinking back to the few times she spoke about her family's past while Marinette sent her a soft smile as she came up to her guest.

"Well, I can say for certainty that the more you get to know me, the more you'll realize that I won't be like that." Marinette assured Lila, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "So if you are open to talking about it, I would love to hear the story about how you ended up with three moms." the pigtailed girl said as she gestured to her chaise, eager to hear about Lila's family situation since it was similar to hers.

"It's not a very complicated story." Lila admitted, watching as Marinette took her hand off of her shoulder and grabbed the second tray of pastries before going to sit on her chaise.

"I don't care. I want to know anyway." Marinette reiterated, sitting on her chaise and placing the tray next to her before patting the spot next to it for Lila to join her.

"Alright. I suppose I could tell you if you are being so insistent." Lila reasoned as she walked over to the chaise, a half smile appearing on her face at how encouraging Marinette was being. "It all started around 15 years ago when my bio parents were placed on the same assignment at the Italian embassy." the olive-eyed girl began, sitting on the chaise and grabbing one of the croquettes from the tray.

"They worked in different departments before then and hadn't met until they got the assignment. But they hit it off right away and slept together after the assignment was done to prevent any messy conflicts." Lila continued before popping the croquette into her mouth, eating it rather quickly. "Afterwards, my mama fell pregnant with me and told my dad. While he wasn't looking for a permanent relationship with my mama, he promised to be there for me growing up." the chestnut-haired girl regaled, finishing her pastry before reaching for another one.

"So after I was born and when either of my bio parents got transferred, the other would request a transfer to the same place as well. However, that didn't really happen until I turned 4 and let me spend a little bit of my childhood in my birth country." Lila went on, her hands moving around in the air to emphasize her point. "As to my 'more than one mom' situation, it's a bit less complicated. My mère is actually my godmother and my bio mom's best friend since college. Meanwhile, my maman is my stepmom after my dad married her four years ago now." the Italian girl added, her fingers playing with her croquette before eating it while Marinette stared at her in awe.

"Wow, that's quite the story." Marinette said, having been absentmindedly eating pastries while listening to her guest's story. "If you don't mind me asking, what's your family like? Are your parents nice? Do you have any siblings or are you an only child?" the red-tipped-haired girl rambled on, wanting to know more about Lila's interesting family.

"Okay, slow down there. One question at a time please." Lila said in slight amusement, her hands waving in front of her in a manner to suggest to Marinette to calm down.

"Sorry. I tend to get a little carried away when it comes to matters like this." Marinette bashfully admitted, rubbing the back of her neck with a nervous smile.

"It's fine. I actually enjoy the questions. Not many people want to know more after the initial story." Lila said, smiling at how interested Marinette was in her life story.

"Like I said, I'm not most people." Marinette replied, returning the smile.

"No. No, you are not." Lila mussed aloud, a small huff of amusement escaping her while reaching for a chocolate cookie from the tray. "But to answer at least two of your questions to start, I'm an only child at the moment but my papa and maman are trying for a baby right now." the olive-eyed girl replied with a smile, taking a bite out of her cookie afterwards.

"Aw!!" Marinette squealed, her fondness for children coming into the open.

"As for my parents, they are all very nice. First up, my dad is a gentleman but can be a little of a pushover when it comes to women. Especially when they are badasses." Lila continued, listing off her parents with her fingers.

"Sounds like a smart man." Marinette remarked, smirking a little at the summary of Lila's dad.

"He is. Meanwhile, my mama is very independent and a real go-getter since the embassy is usually a man's world. Ergo, she's always working hard to be at the top of her game." Lila regaled before taking another bite from her cookie, only for her admiring smile to fade a bit. "But it does mean she tends to be home late on workdays. Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of her for going for the top. But I do wish she was less busy so that she could spend more time with me." the chestnut-haired girl quietly added, looking at the ground with a frown.

"That's understandable. What kid wouldn't want to spend time with their parents?" Marinette wondered with a sympathetic look in Lila's direction, having heard a few similar situations beforehand that had tugged at her heartstrings like Lila's tale.

"Exactly." Lila said after looking up from the floor, smiling at how understanding Marinette was being. "However, while my mère is as ambitious as my mama, her job's more flexible and allows for her to spend more time looking after me when mama has to do long hours. Then there's my maman, who is deaf and an art teacher for the speech impaired. She's a total sweetie and very patient with others. She even taught me how to paint." the Italian girl gushed, showing just how proud she was of her family.

"That's awesome! Your family sounds so cool." Marinette praised Lila, impressed by her story. "Though I do have one last question." the designer said, reaching for a croquette from the tray and popping it into her mouth.

"Shoot." Lila said, finishing her cookie in one last bite.

"Are all your parents Italian? I'm only asking because it kind of sounds like it." Marinette asked.

"Not all of them. My bio parents are straight-up Italian, yes. But my maman is French-Italian while my mère is only French. Seeing as two of my parents are from France, it made learning French a necessity." Lila replied, earning an understanding nod from Marinette.

"Makes sense. At least you're bilingual, too." Marinette pointed out, grabbing a croissant from the tray. "By the way, how many languages do you know?" the pigtailed girl questioned, raising the pastry to her mouth to take a bite from it.

"French and Italian, obviously. French Sign Language from my maman, and English from when I spent time in Australia." Lila answered, listing off her current skill set in languages.

"That's so cool! Normally kids our age only know one or two languages." Marinette praised, swallowing her first bite before taking another.

"Thanks. But what about you? I know you speak French and Italian, but are there any others you know?" Lila asked, interested in how many other things she and Marinette shared.

"Well, there's English, a little bit of Spanish from a school elective class and Chinese from my mom's side. Plus a more obscure language that I'm almost fluent in." Marinette replied, earning an intrigued smile from Lila at her answer.

"Which one?" Lila probed, letting her arms rest on her thighs while leaning towards Marinette with interest.

"I'd rather keep that to myself if you don't mind." Marinette said, leaning back a little out of nervousness. In hindsight, she probably shouldn't have hinted at her skills in speaking Troll in the first place.

"Ooooh, it must be juicy." Lila purred, which forced Marinette to hide her panic to avoid tipping her off. "But I won't press. You've already shared a lot with me today that I'm happy to wait to find out." the olive-eyed girl decided, which had Marinette relaxing from her panicked state.

"Thank you, Lila. And you're lucky to have such a diverse family, by the way." Marinette sighed out, grateful that she wasn't going to press any more. "You know, it's great that Adrien and I aren't the only ones in our class who know more than two languages. It definitely makes things more interesting." the red-tipped-haired girl remarked, causing Lila to smile at her words.

"Thanks, Marinette. You're the first person to say that to me. And while I know how my family came to be is a little unconventional, I wouldn't trade them for the world." Lila said, smiling as she thought about said family.

"I know how that feels. Believe me." Marinette mumbled to herself, smiling to herself as she glanced at the floor before going to look back at Lila. "And while we are talking about family, did you practice any modeling with your mère when at her work? You're a natural at it if you don't mind me saying." the designer observed, a probing eyebrow cocked at Lila in the hopes of getting her to answer.

"Aw, thank you! You're so sweet for noticing. And yes, I did mock-model some of my mère's outfits to help her see how they'd look on someone. When my mère said that I was doing a good job, I started working on it ever since." Lila regaled with a proud smirk, her right hand going to rest on her center clavicle while shrugging her left shoulder.

"Well, it definitely shows. You could be a professional." Marinette noted with a smile, only for her eyes to widen in thought. "Hey... I just got a crazy idea." the pigtailed girl announced, her hand rising to her chin in thought while looking to the side.

"How crazy? Should I be worried?" Lila asked, her arms falling to her side as she looked at Marinette with slight concern.

"Not if it works." Marinette simply replied, which worked to soothe Lila's worries for the moment.

"Alright, I'll bite. What's your idea?" Lila questioned Marinette, now interested in what the designer had in mind.

"You know your way around a catwalk, right?" Marinette rhetorically asked, to which Lila nodded in confirmation. "And I'm a designer in need of a top model for my website. How about we work together and get both our names out into the fashion world?" the red-tipped-haired girl asked, earning an awed look from Lila when hearing the idea.

"That's actually a great idea." Lila said, impressed by the thought. "Wait, didn't you already ask the girls to help model your designs?" the chestnut-haired girl asked, recalling the time the girls of their class helped out and she declined to attend.

"Yeah, but I'm looking for a permanent model for the bigger designs. And seeing as you have experience, you're the perfect candidate." Marinette clarified.

"Well, I do love to show off in pretty clothes. Plus your designs definitely fit that criteria..." Lila trailed off in thought, her gaze shifting to the side before finally making a decision. "Alright, I'm in." the Italian girl announced, smiles appearing on both girls' faces.

"Great!" Marinette cheered, happy that Lila had agreed to her offer.

"On one condition." Lila spoke up, interrupting Marinette's happiness for a second.

"Name it." Marinette said, willing to bend if Lila's request was manageable to put in place.

"I want us to be partners. That way if either of us gets noticed by a big brand name, we both get to work with them." Lila pitched, crossing her arms over her chest with a smirk to boot as she made her case.

"Sounds like a fair trade to me. You got a deal, Lila." Marinette declared, followed by her holding out her hand to Lila.

"Wonderful!" Lila cheered, causing the two of them to shake hands just seconds before Lila's phone buzzed "Oh, shoot! I gotta get going. My mom will be home soon." the olive-eyed girl fretted after seeing what the alert was, getting up from the chaise and started packing her bag to leave.

"This was a really fun hangout, Marinette. You really know how to entertain a girl." Lila complimented her host, having found herself enjoying her time at the Dupain-Cheng house.

"Thanks. I'm glad you had fun." Marinette said, glad to know Lila was happy with their hang out. "So, I'll see you at school tomorrow, partner?" the designer asked, a playful smile sent Lila's way.

"You better believe it. Can't very well leave my new partner in the dust now, can I?" Lila replied as she slipped her bag onto her back, followed by her heading over to the trapdoor and kneeling to grab the handle. "See you in class, Marinette." the chestnut-haired girl added as she opened the door, now starting to head down the stairs to leave.

"See you tomorrow, Lila! Arrivederci! (Goodbye!)" Marinette farewelled, waving 'bye' as she watched Lila leave her room.

"Arrivederci." Lila warmly answered before finally leaving the room, letting Tikki fly out of hiding and float next to Marinette when the door closed behind her.

"Looks like I finally got through to Lila!" Marinette squealed as she stood up from her chaise, now starting to clean up her and Lila's mess.

"I'm proud of you, Marinette. You really made a connection to her." Tikki praised her holder, smiling at Marinette with pride.

"Thanks, Tikki. And who would have thought we'd have so much in common? I never thought I'd find someone who I could relate to in terms of family dynamics. Other than my brother, of course." Marinette prattled on, her joy of finding someone else she could relate to filling every inch of her body.

"It's nice to see you so excited. While I'm still a little cautious of Lila, I can't wait to see what comes next now that you two are friends." Tikki said, glad to see Marinette happy that Lila was willing to be her friend.

"Me too, Tikki. Me, too." Marinette chirped, her smile growing wider as she finished her cleaning. "In the meantime, I've got homework to do before dinner comes. And I don't know about you, but I'd like to avoid another late-night homework catch-up." the designer stated, followed by her looking at the kwami to see the fond smile Tikki was sending her.

"Then let's get cracking." Tikki declared, prompting Marinette to get her homework out and start working on it until dinner time.

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While Marinette was starting her homework, Lila made her way to the apartment's side door and avoided running into Marinette's parents with ease. Sure she had hit it off well with Tom and Sabine, but Lila was looking to get out as fast as possible and without any more pastries than she already ate. Fortunately for the Italian girl, she was successful in evading the Dupain-Cheng's continued hospitality and started walking back home with a small spring in her step.

"That hangout was more enjoyable than I thought it would be. Who knew Marinette was so full of surprises." Lila said aloud to herself, having found herself truly enjoying her time at Marinette's house. "But she is also so naive to think she can trust me so much from the get-go! What kind of idiot would tell a stranger something so personal when they haven't told their closest friends?" the Italian girl wondered incredulously to no one in particular, her hands going out in the air in front of her as she spoke.

See, the thing about Lila was that while she was truthful to Marinette about some things about her life before coming to Paris... there were still things left to be discovered. In actuality, Lila was never burned by anyone in her old schools. She was the one who burned anyone who tried to befriend her when she found out about their deepest darkest secrets, destroying their reputations. And once her family had to leave, she didn't have to worry about any of her past deeds being heard about in her new schools, allowing her to do it all over again. Wherever Lila went, chaos followed in her wake and she had been looking to do the same in Paris if not for Ladybug's exposure of her lies.

Fortunately for Lila, no one else in her class had heard about the incident. But it left her in a sort of purgatory on how to move forward, seeing as she knew she couldn't rely on her normal web of lies to get her ahead of her peers. At first, she thought to try and convince Adrien that she was trustworthy and work on befriending him to get more popularity. But that all went out the window when Marinette, the only other person in the whole school who knew about her lies, came to Lila in the hopes of befriending her.

"Although... She is very intriguing and seems to have quite a few surprises." Lila mused aloud, her hand rising to her chin in thought. "Not to mention she could very well be my ticket to getting into the Agreste fashion business with that website of hers." the olive-eyed girl added, going over all the positive possibilities before she made a definitive choice.

"But then again, the whole class is in her back pocket and would do anything for her if asked. If she were to find out I was using her, I could very well say 'goodbye' to any popularity from there on." Lila realized, her eyes widening at the thought of losing any progress she managed to save at this point.

Despite what someone on the outside looking in would see, Lila wasn't a fool who would jump at any opportunity she got if it meant a small chance of getting ahead in life. She was smart enough to know that she couldn't truly rely on anyone except herself to get what she wanted and knew when to make the right move in her favor. But thanks to Marinette unknowingly accelerating her plans, Lila wasn't sure what to do next after learning all she did about the baker's daughter.

"So do I continue getting closer to her and get more integrated with the class, or not to avoid risking exposure?" the chestnut-haired girl wondered, her hand dropping back to her side as she spoke. But after a few seconds, she still couldn't reach a decision."Ugh, why is it so hard to decide how to go about with Marinette? Why can't she just be a normal patsy to use to get more popularity?" Lila groaned as she kept walking, throwing her hands into the air above her in frustration. However, as her arms came back to her sides, a smirk appeared on the girl's lips.

"And yet... that's what makes her so intriguing." the Italian girl remarked, huffing to herself in amusement at the thought while her gaze drifted to the ground passing under her feet. "Might be best just to see how things go from here and see what's the right option further down the line. Seeing as I'm here to stay, it might be worth the gamble to get close to Marinette if it helps me in the long run." Lila declared, finally deciding to keep playing it safe until an opportunity came up that she couldn't refuse.

"After all, what's life without a little bit of risk?" Lila questioned herself as she neared her house, soon entering the building and making her way home. One way or another, she would get what she was owed... whether she liked it or not.