Alya didn't know whether she was gonna jump in excitement or cry because of exhaustion.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng is Ladybug.

Marinette is Ladybug.

Her best friend is Ladybug.

Oh my fucking god.

Marinette chose Alya to be Rena Rogue.

Marinette trusted Alya with a miraculous.

Without even thinking about it, she threw herself at her best friend, giving her the tightest hug she could. God knows that Marinette needed it.

"Alya," Mari gasped, arms flailing. "I can't breathe."

Her face turned sheepish, "Oops." she apologized, "I just thought that you needed another hug."

Marinette gave Alya a reassuring smile, "It's fine. Just try not to kill me next time. Please."

The word kill and next time we're running around her head dangerously. Her eyes flashed with anger and Alya's pretty sure that something showed in her face because Marinette tensed up.

Alya glared at her friend, "Sit." she commanded, her voice had her listen-to-me-or-i'll-make-you-regret-it-tone.

Marinette followed with no hesitation. She knew better than to challenge Alya when she was in this type of mood.

Which is good. Really good.

Because Alya was mad. Fire was roaring through her ears and all she could see was red.

First, Chat Noir hurt Ladybug. Her hero.

And now she finds out that Ladybug was Marinette this whole time. One of the sweetest girls that Alya has ever met. Alya's best friend. Due to common sense, that meant that Chat Noir also hurt Marinette.

Alya was going to burn that cat, chop him into pieces, slice his throat open, and ruin his reputation so hard that he would never recover. Not necessarily in that order.

Alya scoffed, as if the mangy alley cat would even survive. He wouldn't get a chance to fucking recover.

He hurt someone Alya cared about.

This meant war.

She glanced at Marinette. The poor thing was staring at Alya like she was going to explode which was... fair. But Alya wasn't going to explode at Marinette. She was going to explode at Chat Noir. There was a difference. A big difference.

She forced herself to calm down. As much as Alya wanted Marinette to know her step-by-step plan of ruining Chat Noir, she also knew that her best friend didn't need any more stress in her life.

Alya sat next to her once again, gripping Marinette's hand in order to comfort her. "Is there anything you want to talk about?" she couldn't help but ask. "Not as Alya and Ladybug, but as Marinette and Alya."

Marinette was hesitant, but she still nodded, causing Alya to inaudibly sigh with relief. She might not be able to physically help Marinette with her problem with Chat Noir, but at least she could help mentally. And sometimes, that was what mattered the most.

They sat in a tense, yet somehow comfortable silence for a few seconds before Marinette spoke up, her voice quivering as if she's scared that Alya would judge her for what she would say.

Alya couldn't do anything but give her hand another reassuring squeeze.

Marinette took a deep breath, "Sometimes I- sometimes everything just feels like it's too much. With the whole thing with Hawk Moth, then Lila, and now Chat Noir. The only time I feel like I get to relax is whenever I'm with you or Nino and Xavier."

Alya raised an eyebrow at the last name, "Who's Xavier?"

Marinette blushed and Alya's never seen her so... red. Not even for Adrien. Which was good. Cause that little musty ass bitch can go to hell.

She's still really mad at how he played everyone. Alya thought that Adrien, Nino, Marinette, and her would stay friends forever. Even if Marinette was a little awkward around the model, she always thought that Adrien found it endearing.

Maybe even cute.

But now she knows that it was just another one of his many masks to fool people. To manipulate them.

If anything, he probably made fun of them behind their backs.

"Xavier is um-" Marinette's eyes drifted to her feet so that she didn't have to face Alya. "It's XY?" she suddenly exclaimed.

"You sure?"

Marinette winced, "Yes?"

"He lets you call him Xavier."

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me that you were dating someone?" Alya teased.

Alya didn't think it was possible but Marinette turned even redder, "We're not- it's not, I don't think it's like that." she finished lamely.

"We're going back to this conversation later," Alya informed her best friend.

Her mind was going to combust with all the new information but she still couldn't help but smile.

The internet's been going crazy over the supposed new golden couple of Paris.

It was honestly a bit of a catastrophe and Alya hates it because Marinette is getting so much hate over it online. Maybe Alya can get Max to hack into Instagram so that she can find out who exactly is sending her friend hate. Then get their address and set their house on fire.

She can put it on her to-do list.

Chat Noir first, then Lila and Adrien, and then the people hating on Marinette.

And in between, she'll help Marinette gain more confidence, have XY and Mari officially become boyfriend and girlfriend. Help break the internet because she's introducing them to Paris's new power couple, smack Lila (again), and then get some sleep.

She and Marinette talked a bit more and when it was time for Ladybug to leave, Alya immediately grabbed her phone and asked Nino to grab her a coffee.

She had her work cut out for her.