Marinette's un-plastered knee trembled at the malevolent look on Chloe's face. She should have known she wouldn't get away with sitting by and talking with Adrien the whole lesson, but it had been so nice she'd managed to put Chloe's inevitable revenge out of her mind. Now though, she almost regretted the conversation. Almost.

"O-of course, Chloe." Marinette whispered miserably.

Chloe folded her arms and waited for the rest of the students to straggle out of the classroom for the morning break. Finally, it was just her, Marinette and Adrien.

The blond boy had halted in the act of slinging his bag over his shoulder at the sound of Chloe's voice. He stared from one girl to the other, sensing the tension and seeing the fear in Marinette's face and body language. Marinette's eyes flickered to him, and for the first time, Chloe seemed to notice he was there. She frowned, as if irritated, then she leaned into him, clearly trying to look seductive.

"Don't worry, Adrihoney." She purred. Adrien wanted to vomit. "This will just take a minute, I promise! I just need to have… a little talk with Maritrash here about a minor thing, and then I'll be right out to spend break with you. Why don't you go wait in the hall for me, mon cheri?" She blinked her big blue eyes at him, and a shudder of disgust rocked through him. Her eyes weren't bright and azure like Marinette's, they were pale and washed out, nearly grey. A smirk lingered on her lips and he looked past her suddenly unattractive face to where Mari looked like she was about to be sick- but whether it was from fear or from Chloe's leering, he couldn't tell.

He swallowed and looked back at Chloe, whose face was still stomach-curdlingly close to his. He clenched his jaw.

"No way."

Chloe blinked, and he heard a slight intake of breath from Marinette. Warning bells went off in his head, trying to tell him that maybe this was a bad idea, but he ignored them.

"What was that, Adrikins?" Chloe pouted and pulled away, much to his relief. But that didn't assuage the fury that was coursing through him.

"No." He repeated emphatically.

Chloe forced a tinkling, girlish laugh. She tried to appear nonchalant and blasé, but he could tell she was off-put. She clearly hadn't been expecting resistance- but she was sure as hell going to get some.

"I'm terribly sorry, Adribabes, but I'm still unclear as to what you're saying 'no' to."

"All of it." Adrien's chest was heaving, and he felt like he'd just run a mile.

"Adrien…" whispered Marinette faintly, whether it was a warning or a plea, he didn't know. He flicked his eyes to her from Chloe and saw the aghast expression on her face. The voice in the back of his head told him to stop, but he didn't care. He was too angry to care.

"All of it." He said again, and a slight frown crossed Chloe's face. "I am not your honey, I am not your Adrikins. Marinette is not called Maritrash, and she deserves better than to be called that, especially from you. I am not going to be spending break time with you, and I am not idly standing outside while you have your little talk with Marinette. She deserves better than to be your slave, Chloe! You don't deserve to be anywhere near her, and you need to recognise that you won't be getting away with your little extortion scheme for much longer. I'm telling you now, Chloe Bourgeois, that you had better watch your step around me in the future. And, you should also know that I'm going to stop this… whatever it is. No matter what. Got it?"

There was a very long silence.

Adrien could feel the rage-red energy pounding through him, and his nails were biting into his palms where his clenched fists were tightening with every passing second. Chloe looked like he'd slapped her (which he'd had to stop himself forcefully from doing) and her mouth was popped open. Marinette looked like she was about to faint, her face pallid and her body shaking like a leaf.

Finally, someone moved. Chloe shook her head slowly but darkly, a sneer crossing her lips.

"Huh…" She turned to speak to Marinette, who backed away instantly. "You've really worked your magic on him, haven't you, Maritrash?"

Marinette flinched. Adrien's heart dropped suddenly, and he caught the stress Chloe had put on the word magic. She was referencing Ladybug… His heart slowed as he saw the fear on the bluenette's face. Reason managed to work its way into his pounding head, and he suddenly recoiled. Guilt washed over him as he realised his protective anger was probably, actually, far less heroic than it was idiotic.

Oh god. He hadn't helped at all. He'd just made things much worse.

"Chloe…" Whimpered Marinette, her eyes pleading. She reached out slightly, and Chloe pushed her hands away.

"Ugh. Don't touch me, Maritrash!"

"Chloe!" Cried Adrien, anger rushing over him again before he could make himself calm down. Did she not hear what he'd just said?! Who did this girl think she was? Marinette was Ladybug, the heroine of Paris, not to mention the most tender-hearted, decent person anyone had ever met. Chloe had already tortured her more than enough- her leg was broken, for god's sake!

Chloe ignored him. She turned and stalked to the door, pausing with her hand on the doorknob. She didn't glance back as she spoke, but her commanding, disparaging tone carried well enough through the room that Adrien and Marinette could hear her perfectly well.

"We'll continue this later, little Litter Bug. Isn't it a fortnight since you last came and cleaned, anyway? Five, sharp, ready to scrub some toilets, okay? Plus, we've definitely got some things to discuss. We might have to rearrange the terms of our agreement, but to be honest I'm not sure if I want to keep it. You'll have to come up with something good." At this point, she did turn round, casting a sickly smile in Adrien's direction.

"Don't worry, Adrien honey, I don't blame you. I'll consider forgiving you for this, but you might have to find a way to make it up to me. I know our Mari's quite persuasive when she wants to be. I bet she wrapped you round her little finger with those big doe eyes, hmm? She's quite miraculous in her little pity show. That's something I bet you didn't know… But chances are, there's a lot you don't know about little Maritrash, here. But I have a feeling that's all going to come out in the open soon, don't you Marinette?"

With that, the blonde flounced out of the room, and the door slammed behind her with an almighty crash.

Adrien stared at it for a second, distraught. He knew for sure he'd made things so much worse. He turned to Marinette, aiming to comfort her, but she backed away, shaking her head. Her crutches clacked loudly on the wooden floor as she recoiled. A hiss of pain escaped her mouth at the movement.

"Do you know what you've done?" Marinette whispered, tears pooling in her terrified eyes. "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Marinette," Adrien began desperately. He did know what he'd done and he was horrified at his thoughtless fury. Instead of making things better with his protectiveness and righteousness, he'd all but guaranteed that Chloe would reveal Marinette. Would reveal Ladybug. Neither girl would ever forgive him, and Chat's relationship with both girls would be effectively ruined. Not to mention the damage he'd have done to Mari's life. If Hawkmoth knew who Ladybug was, he could use her family as bait, he could blackmail her into handing over her Miraculous… Adrien bit his lip, wanting dearly to reveal that he knew her but was fairly certain it wouldn't be a comfort. "I- I'm sorry…"

Looking into his earnest, guilt-washed eyes, Marinette started to cry softly.

"Adrien… I- I'm sorry too. I've k- kept a t-terrible secret… but tomorrow, y- you'll know. Everyone w- will know."

A quiet spread between them and Adrien felt like he was going mad. Everything was going wrong. He made an odd and strangled noise in the back of his throat as he struggled to find the right words to say.

Marinette looked down at the floor and closed her eyes. Even at this distance, he could see the tears on her face and the defeat in her stance.

"I… I need you to go."

Adrien swallowed. He needed to tell her he knew, and that he didn't care. He needed to tell her who he was.

"Marinette, I can't." He whispered instead.

"Please, I n- need some time alone. I'll… I think a lot of th-things are going to change a lot tonight, okay? And I n- need to… I just need to think, to g- get myself ready. So p-please, Adrien, just go."

He'd been in this situation with her twice before- needing to help and comfort her, with her pushing him away. He hadn't succeeded either time. But this time it was his fault. He had to make things right. He had to tell her.

"Mari, listen. Your secret, the one Chloe knows…"

Marinette looked up at him, her eyes wide and fear-filled, but that didn't dissuade him. He was going to tell her. He was going to say he was Chat. He was going to say he knew she was Ladybug. He was going to say he'd been in love with her since they'd first met, he was going to say it all.

"I…"

The bell rang.