LadyBugOut AU (Snippets)

Summary:
Nino laments over Lila's lying to Adrien.

Chapter Text
Nino slumped on the bench inside the school, covering his face with a groan. "I can't believe Lila's a liar."

Adrien said nothing, just watching as Nino processed everything from the day.

Nino continued, "I just... I knew there was a lot of stuff going on, but I didn't know it'd get this bad, y'know?"

Adrien nodded his head, but couldn't shake his curiosity. "Did you really break up with Alya?"

"Yeah. I didn't have a choice, man. It didn't matter how much I loved her when things just weren't working with us."

"I mean..." Adrien trailed off, gathering his thoughts. "I'm sure you could've worked it out for love."

Nino shook his head. "I can't put in that kind of work right now. I needed a break, bad." He leaned over, wrapping his arm around Adrien and giving a half-hearted smile. "So for now, it's just you and me again!"

Adrien smiled back, albeit awkwardly. It was a bit of a weird feeling since he and Nino had so rarely hung out as of late, but it wasn't unwelcome.

Nino's smile wavered, as if he'd spontaneously been reminded of something bad. Pulling away from Adrien, he buried his face in his hands and muttered,  "Ugh. I don't even know what I'll say to Marinette."

"About what?"

"About Lila!" Nino said. "Dude, she tried to warn me and Alya from the start and I didn't listen!"

Adrien blinked. That was new information to him. "She... warned you?"

"You weren't there," Nino pointed out, probably noticing Adrien's confusion. "It was in the cafeteria, on Lila's first day back at school. Marinette was..." He glanced at Adrien, hesitating, then continued,  "she was talking about how she was suspicious of Lila, so she followed her when you and Lila met up at the park."

In an instant, Adrien's eyes widened. He stood, clearly in a state of shock. "Wait, she saw that?! Even the part with Ladybug?"

He hadn't known that, but when he thought about it, it made sense. Marinette had been skeptical and hostile towards Lila even during Heroes' Day. Adrien figured it was strange, but if Marinette had seen something that proved to her that Lila was a liar, it made sense.

Realizing he'd just been standing there for a good few seconds, dazed, Adrien turned his attention back to Nino.

Nino's eyes wavered, and it almost seemed like gears were turning in his head. Adrien didn't understand at first, but when Nino looked back at him with a look of hurt and shock, reality clicked.

"Dude..."

"W-wait, Nino--"

Nino stood, jabbing a finger into Adrien's direction. "You knew?!"

Adrien flinched. "I-I mean... I was there in the park, but--uh--"

"You knew!" Nino repeated, this time not as a question. He threw his hands up, bringing them back down on his hat like he was trying to hide his whole head inside of it. "Why didn't you say anything?!"

"I..." Adrien hesitated, trying to gauge how logical his answer would sound. "I...didn't want to hurt Lila."

"Hurt--" Nino recoiled, flabbergasted. He shook his head, trying to recover. "Hurt her? What about everyone else?! What about..."

Nino huffed, a bit of anger fading into a mixture of disappointment and deep-rooted pain. "What about me?"

Adrien didn't have a response to that, struck silent by the look on his friend's face. As he searched the area for anything else to stare at, he quickly noticed that people were starting to stare.

"N-nino--" he began.

"Lila promised me so much! She lied about all of it so I'd think she's cool!" Nino interjected. "And you...you let her? Man, I'm hurt! I'm hurt that I've been living in this messed up lie ever since Lila came back to school and my best friend didn't have my back!"

"I-I did!" Adrien protested weakly, still not able to meet Nino's gaze. "Nino, the crowd--"

"Oh, is that what this is all about? You were afraid no one would believe you? Afraid to ruin the image you'd set up for yourself? You'd rather just leave Marinette to--"

Nino paused, realization dawning on him. "...You let Marinette handle it all on her own."

"No!" Adrien shouted, desperate to defend himself. "I looked after her!"

Nino scoffed at that. "How?!"

"I..." Adrien swallowed, as if knowing that his reasoning wouldn't fly. "I told her not to call Lila out anymore, and that it didn't matter as long as we both knew she was lying."

He stiffened, as Nino looked ready to punch him. Yet, no one watching tried to step forward. They just stared, waiting for something to happen.

After a long moment, Nino's shoulders slumped. The anger and sadness in his face faded away into a solemn acceptance.

"I'm out," he said quietly, turning away in defeat.

"Nino--" Adrien called in desperation, reaching out and managing to grab Nino's arm.

Nino harshly pulled his arm away. "Lay off."

Adrien stepped back, unnerved, only able to watch as Nino walked off.

It was then that he remembered the crowd who'd been watching him. Nervously, he glanced over, seeing everyone still staring at him.

He ran off as quickly as he could.