It's been 4 months since Marinette's assault and although they're getting better, they can start to notice some changes in a certain someone. Kacey.

He barely hangs out with them anymore, they barely talk, and the only time they actually interact is when one of them bumps into the other and while Marinette says sorry with meaning, Kacey only gives them a half-assed sorry and goes back to doing whatever he was doing before.

They've noticed that Kacey spends most of his time around any other girl in school. Not that there's anything wrong with having opposite gender friends, but when your own boyfriend starts laughing with them more than he does with you... It kinda starts to hurt.

So, here we are with all the girls sitting around in Juleka and Nino's room laughing and having fun, except for Marinette, who is sulking in a chair.

Kagami: Mari, are you ok?

Marinette: Am I a bad girlfriend?

Alix: Ok, hold up! Stop the laughing and fun! What the fuck are you saying, Mari?

Lila: Yeah! You're like, the best person ever!

Marinette: Well, everytime I ask Kacey to hang out, he blows me off and says he's busy. And you know those projects that we've got due next week?

Chloe: Yeah?

Marinette: Y'know how he's partnered with Rose? I just thought that since I'm kinda...y'know, boring...that I might've did something and-

Juleka: Now that you say that...

Chloe: What?

Juleka: I asked Kacey if something was wrong, right? He just scoffed and walked away. Then he came back to the table 5 minutes later and said, "Tell her she knows what she did!" and left again. He left WITH Rose, so...

Marinette: Did I do something to make him mad?

Lila: I don't think so... You guys have barely talked and- and HE'S been the one ignoring YOU!

Alix: Yeah! Everytime you try and talk to him, he basically says, "Fuck off and go fuck yourself".

Kagami: I don't have any proof, but... Do you think he's cheating on you with Rose?

Marinette: Maybe...I don't know, but if he is...I'm just gonna let him know this: A guy from East Side Paris slid into my DMs on Insta and...

Lila: You think he's cute?

Marinette: Maybe I do and maybe I don't. I'm not telling.

Kagami: But...do you?

Marinette: Yes!

All the girls jump and scream while Marinette pulls up a picture from Instagram with the caption: "Feelin' great td. hmu pretty like damn (@Mari.bella)

Marinette: Look! Look, look!

Lila: He tagged you! He tagged you!!

Marinette: OH MY GOD!!

Kagami swipes their phone and starts scrolling through his page.

Kagami: Lives in East Side...19 year old...Bisexual...Goes to the International School of Paris (ISP)...on the football team...6'7...OH MY GOD!

Marinette: What!? What!? What!?

Kagami: Look at his relationship status! Look at the status!

Lila: Status: Crush ❤️: Currently crushing on (@Mari.bella) hmu when you see this cutie

Alix: He likes you!

Chole: Follow him! Follow him!

Marinette: No! No, no, no! What if he's joking!? What if it's a fake page!? What if it's Adrien!? Do you all hate me-!?

Kagami follows his account and Marinette lunges to grab the phone, but Kagami throws it to Lila who catches it and starts running around the room.

Marinette: Why did you do that!? He probably thinks I'm stalking his account! What if he sees that!?

Lila: He followed you back! Oh my God!

Lila tosses the phone back to Marinette and hops down from the bed.

Lila: Y'know, now that I think about it, I have some things that I've gotta do...

Marinette: What!?

Lila: Yeah, have fun though!

Kagami: I also have some thing I need to take care of.

Alix: Do these things involve shopping for new clothes?

Juleka: They do indeed, Alix. How did you know?

Alix: Just a hunch.

Marinette: You guys are NOT serious!?

Juleka: Sorry, not sorry!

All the others run out of the room laughing leaving Marinette to deal with the mess that they've created.

They open the message by accident and are about to throw the phone when their phone goes off again with another message. They reluctantly check the message and decide to at least attempt to talk to the guy.

P

They half-heartedly laugh to themselves and start scrolling through Instagram at some baking posts when they come across an account named: @Catch+Expose

Then thinking that it was just gonna be some toxic relationship problems, they click on the account anyway and see Juleka walking around with Kagami.

Juleka: Hey everyone! Welcome to another session of... Catch and Expose! Today, well, tonight really, me and my co-host, Kagami Tsurugi, are on a secret ops mission.

Kagami: Mhm mhm, that's right. See, one of our "Main girls" as Juleka likes to call them, has been dating a guy by the name of: Kacey Arcs. At the beginning of their relationship, he was a good guy, but a little while after a certain something happened, he started to slowly drift away from them.

Juleka: We don't wanna jump to any conclusions here, but we have reason to believe that he's been sneaking around with multiple other women. If we're wrong, thank God. If not...we're really sorry, Mari...

Kagami: Yeah, really sorry! 'Cause when I texted Kacey he said he was gonna go stop by the motorcycle shop, but as you can see, we just came from there and...it's closed tonight.

Juleka: So, how you gonna be working at a CLOSED shop? Hold up and follow me real quick.

Juleka and Kagami cross the street and go into a smoothie shop where they see Kacey and some brunette sitting at a table with Kacey's arm around the girl's waist.

Kagami: Hey, Kacey didn't know you'd be here.

Kacey stiffens in his seat and turns to see the glares of Juleka and Kagami.

Kacey: H-Hey... W-What are you two doing here?

Juleka: Oh, just getting some smoothies. What about you?

Kagami: Your friend is really pretty! Do you mind sharing your skin care routine?

R/G: U-Uhm... Girlfriend actually...

Juleka: Oh, so, you guys are dating?

R/G: Y-Yeah...

Kagami: Oh! For how long?

R/G: Three months!

Juleka: Sorry to break this to you, but... We're you aware he has a girlfriend already?

R/G: E-Excuse me?

Kagami: Yeah! He's dating one of my best friends already! I really wanted to be wrong about you Kacey, I really, really did...

Juleka: How the fuck could you do this to her, Arcs!?

Kagami: Honestly!

Kacey: Hey! Don't pin anything on me! She cheated on me first!

Juleka: HA! When would she have the time? She's been working on homework, classwork, and projects for school for the last 4 months! She's barely left her room because of Agreste, and the only time she does is to get something to eat! She just needed you to be there, but you just HAD to fuck that up too, didn't you!?

Kagami: Whoa... That's the most of heard outta you, Jules! Good job!

Juleka: Th-Thank you...

Kagami: Just because you've been getting fake shit about Mari, doesn't mean it's ture. How many other girls has your hoe ass been with?

Kacey: N-None! I swear!

Juleka: Really? Because I have inside sources that put you in different locations with different women. Seven to be exact; just today alone. Wanna explain that?

Images of all the other girls that he's been with flash across the screen making Marinette choke back sobs and try not to cry.

Nino enters their room with a big bag of food that he ordered and junk food, but stops when he sees them crying.

Nino: Hey, hey, what's up?

He sits on their bed and puts the food on the ground.

Marinette: D-Did I d-do something w-wrong?

Nino: What are you talking about?

They hand Nino their phone and he re-watches the video. He puts the phone down and takes a deep breath before slamming his hand down on the bedside table.

Nino: I'm gonna fuck him up.

Marinette: Can you just let it go? Just this once?

Nino: (Sigh) I guess...

Marinette: Thanks... Wanna take a pic?

Nino: (Laughs) Sure, Dudette.

They take a picture with each of them holding up half a heart with their fingers with the caption:

"Enjoying the single life with my big bro (@DJ_Shellrock) P.S (@Blueflame) we done b/c those who turn their back on me do not deserve to be in my presence. #selfworth #selflove"

Nino: What are you gonna do now that you're single?

Marinette: I don't know. I do know that I want you to help me go through all this food.

They grab the bag and take out a basket of curly fries o eat and a medium soda as well.

Nino: Consider that already done!

He takes a to-go box full of tater tots and starts shoving them in his mouth. They're about halfway through the bag of food when Marinette's phone finally stops going off and they can finally enjoy Finding Nemo in peace and quiet.

Nino: Why didn't we think of just muting your phone?

They both look at each other and facepalm so hard their faces go red. Marinette snatches her phone off the bed and mutes any notifications from Kacey and tosses it to Nino who instantly starts scrolling through Kacey and Marinette's messages.

Marinette: Really?

Nino: What? I wanna see what he's saying.

He scrolls to the very top where the messages start and start scrolling down.

Nino: You wanna laugh?

Marinette: Sure, why not?

Nino: Look at this shit.

Marinette and Nino fall off the bed dying from laughter when Marc, Luka, Kim and Ivan come in to check on them.

Marc: It is too damn late for you two to be doing all this damn hollering.

Marinette: S-Sorry!

Nino: Yeah, sorry, dudes!

Luka: Wassup with all this food and stuff?

Marinette: Post break-up movie sesh!

Kim: Nino and Juleka broke up?

Nino: WE WERE NEVER EVEN DATING!

Marinette: Because you're too much of a pantsy to ask her out.

Nino: I am NOT a pantsy!

Marinette: (Sniff, sniff) BULLSHIT!

Luka: If it was you and Kacey, I'm gonna start partying, because I never liked the guy.

Ivan: Agreed. He was a little TOO nice for my liking.

Marc: I agree.

They all grab some food and spread out around the room to watch the movie.

Ivan: Finding Nemo? Good choice.

Luka: An old classic.

Not even 15 minutes go by before Kacey comes barreling into the room being chased by Nathaniel.

Nathaniel: You can run, but you can't hide from me you little man whore!

Nino: Dude, what's up?

Nathaniel: I lend this bitch my car, and he starts getting it on with some blonde hair bitch in MY car!

Marinette: Wait! The red one!?

Nathaniel: THE RED ONE!

Marinette: I HELPED DESIGN THAT CAR! DUDE, WHAT THE HELL!?

Marc: I HELPED PAINT IT!

Ivan: EVERYONE'S MONEY WENT INTO THAT CAR!

Luka: You got anything to say?

Kacey: B-Baby, please? A little help here?

Everyone glares at him except for Marinette who's just watching the movie like nothing happened. They look at Kacey to see him looking at them with a pitiful look on his face.

Marinette: Nah, you must be mistaking me for someone who's in a relationship. I'm single as fuck. Like, did you or did you not see the post?

Nathaniel: Anyone wanna help me take out the trash?

Luka: I'll gladly take part in that action.

Kim: As will I!

Nino: Me too!

Marinette: Well, I'm gonna go out for a little bit. Ivan, I'm taking your brass knuckles. Luka, your knife. Nino, your switch blade, and Marc, your emergency beacon button.

Ivan: Ok.

Luka: Stay safe.

Nino: What he said.

Marc: Don't lose it.

They grab a light weight jacket and put on some low top shoes and run out the hotel laughing. They run down the street doing a few handsprings and avoiding the few people they come across walking down the street.

They don't even notice that they're in East Side Paris until they take notice of all the shops, signs, and other colorful buildings in the area.

Marinette: Wow...

They walk into an art supply store and bump into someone; falling on the ground onto her rear.

Marinette: Ow...

They look up see two girls and two guys looking down at them. The tallest one helps them up and they dust off their pants.

Ethan: Sorry about that.

Marinette: I'm not trynna be rude, but...how old are you?

Ethan: 16...why?

Marinette: 'Cause whatever your guardians are feeding you I want some! Oh, my bad, my name's Marinette. Who are you?

Ethan: I'm Ethan. Little man right here's Jacob.

Jacob: Shut up! Caleb says I'll start growing soon! I'm almost taller than Ruby!

Ethan: That don't mean a damn thing.

Jason: I grow soon!

Pearl: Not soon enough apparently. I'm Pearl and that's my sister, Ruby.

Ruby: 'Sup!

Marinette: Y-You guys are so pretty! Like, insanely! I'm sorry I just had to get that out!

Ruby: P-P-P-

Pearl: She thinks we're pretty.

Ruby continues letting out a long string of "P's" and Pearl continues letting out a string of "She thinks we're pretty".

Marinette: Are they...ok? Did I say something I shouldn't have?

Jason: They just aren't used to- Ruby!

Ruby falls back into his arms passed out from shock and he holds, or rather, tries to hold her up. Pearl's already passed out and is being held by Ethan who is waving a a few pieces of paper in front of her face.

Ethan: They aren't used to people saying things like this.

Marinette: I-I'm sorry! I didn't know!

Jason: It's cool...I think.

Marinette studies Jason's face for a little bit before smacking herself on the head.

Marinette: Fake out!

Jason: Excuse me?

Marinette: You're fake out! A-And Ruby's "Cardinal", Pearl's "Canvas", and- and Ethan is "Linebacker"!

Ethan: I told you we should've been less obvious!

Jason: It's not my fault she's smart!

Marinette: I'd like it if you used my pronoun of they/them, thank you.

Jason: Oh, my bad. Correction: It's not my fault THEY'RE smart!

Ethan: I- Ok, you win this time.

Marinette: Thank you! Thank you! You guys saved my life! Literally!

Jason: It wasn't a problem, really.

Ethan: Yeah, not at all. We were just around.

Jason: At the right time.

Ethan: Exactly.

Marinette: Thank you, again! Hey, I'm gonna be hanging around here for a while. If you need anything just come find me, 'kay?

Ethan: Will do!

Jason: Alright!

Marinette: See ya!

They wave the two boys good bye and leave the store.

Marinette: (Those kids would make great miraculous holders...)

They keep walking until they get to an abandoned high school and start walking around it. They see lights illuminating on the other side that gives off an alien type vibe and decide to approach it anyway.

They keep walking and get to the end corner of the building and peek their head around a little and see a guy in black and neon green clothing spray painting the back of the building.

They quickly hide behind the corner before they're seen and try to leave so they don't disturb the mystery guy. Marinette tries to tip-toe away, but doesn't get very far because they've stepped on some twigs and everything goes strangely quiet.

For a few seconds, they think they weren't going to get caught, so they start to slowly walk away, but before they can take more than five more steps, they're dragged to the ground and a hand covers their mouth when they start trying to scream.

Unknown: Be quiet!

Marinette quickly goes quiet not knowing what the man is going to do if they try to scream, and while nothing is being said, a group of people run by the school shooting bullets at the tree they're both binding behind.

The unknown man covers Marinette's head and keeps looking around the trunk of the tree to make sure the guys are all gone. The mystery guy helps Marinette off the ground and starts picking the twigs off his clothes.

Unknown: I hate those guys! Think they're so tough just 'cause their dad's rule the lower east side! They won't be so big and bad when I-