(Continued from part 3)

Marinette was beginning to inwardly panic a bit. Only a little bit, of course. She had a plan, after all. She was a professional. She'd done this countless times before. Stalling, stretching the truth, and harmless white lies had all become second nature for her by this point. It was all a normal part of having to juggle a superhero job and protecting her loved ones.

Plagg unexpectedly showing up inside her purse was the first wrench thrown into her plan. Tikki had been able to get her attention to notify her, but as Alya and Nino were present, Marinette hadn't been able to do more than acknowledge his presence with a silent nod.

Plagg being away from Adrien meant he couldn't transform into Chat Noir. How had they gotten separated? This wasn't good.

Secondly, after "finding" her cell phone and making a show of calling the police, to Marinette's dismay, Nino and Alya insisted on staying with her instead of letting her wander off on her own. They'd been supportive of her subsequent plan to go find Adrien and get him to safety. After all, since he and Marinette had been nearly inseparable over the past week, it would seem only natural. She was certain that people suspected there was perhaps something more going on between the two of them, particularly Alya. She hadn't asked her about it yet, and Marinette certainly hadn't brought it up herself. Best to delay that conversation for as long as she could; at least until she and Chat/Adrien could be as transparent with each other as possible.

However, if they didn't find Adrien soon, Alya and Nino would begin to ask questions about why it was so important to find him instead of evacuating somewhere safe, like civilians were supposed to do during akuma attacks. Especially since Ladybug and Chat Noir would "fix" everything and it would go back to normal afterwards, so whatever fate had befallen poor Adrien would thankfully be reversed. Granted, Alya's reporter tendencies would keep her from wanting to leave the scene of the action, and Nino would want to stick around to keep her safe after what had just occurred between them. But even these special circumstances had limitations.

She needed to transform and find Adrien, preferably in that order. Especially if, heaven forbid, somehow Dark Cupid had already found him, and...

"THERE YOU ARE!!"

Before Marinette could even turn her head towards the sound, someone shoved and pinned her against the wall. Head spinning, she struggled to escape but her upper arms were grasped firmly in place. She grunted weakly, then raised her head up to peek at her assailant.

Oh, no.

It was just as she feared. His lips were stained black, like Alya's from before, and the smile she was so used to seeing on his beautiful face was turned into a vicious snarl.

"I've been looking all over for you, ma princesse," Adrien said mockingly, practically spitting out the nickname with disdain.

He leaned in close, as he often did when they were Ladybug and Chat Noir, but with none of the affection that she associated with this action. He whispered into her ear, but instead of giving her pleasant butterflies as it always did, it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up in dread.

"Did you know that you even torment me in my sleep?" he hissed. "Why won't you just leave me the hell alone?!"

Unfortunately, she did know. Usually it was Ladybug that appeared in his dreams, but sometimes it was his mother, and sometimes it was his friends. She'd seen herself as Marinette in them on occasion. To say that it was unnerving would be an understatement.

His face pulled away so their eyes could meet. "How about we make my dreams come true, Marinette? Would you like to find out what happens next?"

Never had Adrien ever glared at her with such animosity and contempt. This expression looked jarring on his face, foreign, completely out of place, and she couldn't help but shiver at his ominous tone.

"Leave her alone!" Alya yelled, both her and Nino managing to peel Adrien off of her and slam him onto the wall across the way.

Marinette shook herself out of her stupor and assisted in holding him in place, and with their combined strengths, they had him trapped. But only barely.

Adrien squirmed and thrashed, trying to escape. "LET GO!! I hate you all! You're all horrible!" he growled. "Especially you, Marinette. You're absolutely revolting! I hate you so much, just like I hate that stupid Ladybug. I despise you both more than anyone else in the world!"

Marinette tried not to think about what he was saying. Like Nino said, he was only saying the opposite of what he meant. The implications of that were too much for her right now.

Instead, she focused on what had to happen next in order to snap him out of it. She'd kissed Chat before. Kissing Adrien should be no different, right? She gulped nervously as she tried to mentally prepare herself.

As she gathered her courage, a voice called from behind, "Friends, let me help!"

She knew that voice. What now?!

Lila walked up to them and added, "I saw you guys earlier, out in the courtyard. I know what Adrien needs to break the spell."

Nino stared dumbfounded as Alya let out a puzzled, "Uhh..." They both looked back and forth between Lila and Marinette.

"Pucker up, sweet prince. I'll save you," Lila said calmly as she walked up to him and placed her hands on his chest. Adrien made no effort to try to move away, but merely frowned in confusion.

Marinette could practically feel smoke coming out of her ears and fire alarms ringing in her brain. She couldn't let this happen! Adrien was her boyfriend (kind of)! In any case, Lila wasn't allowed to kiss him! But what could Marinette possibly say to stop her?!

Lila puckered up her lips and moved in for the kiss.

There was no time to think. Marinette shot up and shoved Lila out of the way as their lips brushed.

No time to waste. Before he could get a chance to react or pull away, she roughly grabbed the sides of Adrien's head and planted a heavy smooch on him.

Adrien's eyes popped wide open in horror and he protested into her mouth at first, but a second later, his eyes slowly slid shut and he let out a low, contented moan. He tilted his head to return and deepen the kiss; Marinette gently caressed his cheek as she accepted it.

Seconds passed and she pulled away hesitantly, unsure whether it had worked. After all, the kiss had been from Marinette instead of Ladybug, and while they were the same person, Adrien wasn't aware of this fact. His eyes remained closed, but to her surprise, the last remnants of the black lipstick disappeared.

It worked!! Elated, Marinette let out a small laugh, and it took all her remaining willpower not to jump up and down in excitement.

"What the hell, Marinette?!" Lila exclaimed, enraged.

Marinette ignored her.

Adrien let out a small groan and shook his head, a bit disoriented but seemed fine otherwise. He looked back and forth between Nino and Alya, who were still holding him in place. "Uhh... What's going on? What happened?" he mumbled.

The pair let him go, and looked at Marinette for an explanation. She laughed nervously, fidgeting with her hands. "Um, well... Kim's been akumatized. You were under a spell but we managed to snap you out of it." She decided this wasn't the right time for a detailed explanation, so she shifted the topic. "Now, listen carefully. Ladybug's fighting Dark Cupid by herself right now. Do you know why Kim was so upset?"

Adrien considered his interaction with Kim from earlier. "I'm not sure, but he was holding some kind of jewelry. I'm guessing it might have been a gift for someone. He looked kind of... heartsick. Like he didn't get to deliver it."

Marinette nodded. "I see. Okay then... Nino and Alya, can you two go outside and direct the authorities when they show up? Lila, you should go with them. Adrien and I will stay behind and look for other students who might be trapped or need help."

The couple agreed, and Lila begrudgingly tagged along, sparing one last side-eyed glare at her. "This isn't over, Marinette," Lila muttered before catching up with the pair.

Marinette chuckled nervously, but shook off her nerves as she took Adrien by the hand and led him to a small utility closet. "You should stay here for a few minutes to make sure there's no side effects left over from Dark Cupid's magic. I'll come back in a bit to check on you. Sound good?"

Adrien still seemed a bit frazzled, but didn't argue with her and nodded in return. She offered him a smile as she closed the door.

Checking to make sure the coast was clear, she opened her purse and gave Plagg the signal so he could phase in from one of the side walls, before Adrien could notice his absence. She understood now that Plagg must have fled as soon as Adrien got hit by Dark Cupid's arrow in order to keep him from transforming. Smart little kwami. She made a mental note to make him an extra special cheesy snack later today.

---

A few minutes later, Ladybug and Chat Noir were reunited, and the two were able to take down Dark Cupid without further incident. Apparently, there had been a misunderstanding between Kim and his girlfriend, Ondine. He had prepared a gift for their relationship anniversary, a lovely heart shaped pin with a mermaid in it. But as he was about to give it to her, he'd overheard her on the phone with somebody, and had assumed she was going to break up with him. In reality, she had been talking about how she was tired of her current job and she was going to quit later that week. Once they cleared things up, Ladybug and Chat Noir said goodbye to a relieved Kim and a grateful Ondine as they locked in an embrace.

"Thanks for your help, Kitty," Ladybug said as she raised her fist. Chat dutifully returned the fistbump, but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Is anything the matter?" she asked.

Chat shrugged, shaking his head slightly. "I got hit by Dark Cupid as a civilian. My friends found me and were able to snap me out of it, but it feels so unnerving to have no memory of what happened. I hope I didn't do anything bad or say anything horrible to them."

Ladybug touched his arm, rubbing it soothingly. "I'm sure they know you didn't mean it if you did. Someone as kind as you would never hurt anybody on purpose, especially your friends," she reassured him.

"Thanks, Bugaboo," he replied, looking at her with affection and gratitude. "Speaking of which, I'm supposed to meet up with them. They're probably wondering where I went."

Ladybug smiled. "I won't keep you then. I'll message you later, 'kay?" With a quick peck on the lips, she said goodbye then leapt away.

"See ya," Chat replied, fingers ghosting over his lips as they tingled, then forced his feet to move where he needed to go next.

---

After detransforming, Adrien didn't see Marinette near the closet where she'd left him, so he exited the school to meet up with Alya and Nino, texting Marinette his location in case she was looking for him elsewhere.

As he reached his friends, he noticed the pair was preoccupied watching something on Alya's phone (most likely the news), so he peeked over to watch too.

It was, in fact, not the news.

His eyes grew as wide as dinner plates upon seeing footage of himself thrashing about like a feral animal while his friends held him down, followed by Lila's attempt to kiss him. But nothing could have prepared him for what happened next. Marinette kissed him. And he kissed her back.

Alya and Nino turned to face him and he realized he'd let out a loud, involuntary gasp.

"Oh! I-uhhh, I didn't see you there, bro," Nino stammered.

"Crap! I wish we'd been able to explain before you saw this footage," Alya groaned. "Alright, try not to freak out. You were hit by one of Dark Cupid's arrows, which put you under a spell. The spell made people hateful and violent, and the only way to break it was true love's kiss. Yes, like in the fairy tales. I can explain how we found that out too..."

Alya continued her recap, but Adrien couldn't hear her, as there were two things that were currently consuming the entirety of his brainpower. Firstly, he'd kissed someone that wasn't his significant other, and even though it wasn't his fault, he couldn't help but feel guilty about it. Not to mention, he'd actually kissed them back.

Secondly, it was Marinette who had delivered that kiss. And not just any kiss, a kiss of true love. Which meant...

Marinette was still in love with him.

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A/N: Poor confused Adrien. You think Alya's gonna bring up this incident with Marinette later on? That girl's got a lot of explaining to do!

Side note: I was very close to having Lila actually kiss Adrien and have it not break the spell, but I couldn't bring myself to do it! 😆 Lila's gonna be pretty mad after this though... you think anything will happen because of it? 👀