Adrien couldn't help but look at Marinette across the room. The only thing that bothered him so much was that she was there with her husband, Damian Wayne. He saw the smile he missed; saw her laughing with friends. He could see how close she was to him, every time she turned and looked at him to continue the story.
"How did you meet your husband, Marinette?"
"Yeah he doesn't look familiar."
"Did he go to school with us; I feel like I would have remembered him."
"Uncle Jagged took me on tour when I graduated, half way through the year, and I met Damian during one of the stops." Marinette answered.
Adrien looked away and noticed his friends were uncomfortable. Some people, those closest to Mari, stopped listening to Lila. Kitty Section had launched to stardom with their amazing clothes, lyrics and Jagged Stones backing. The others…..'Did I do the right thing?' was running across their minds.
"Hey, let's get out of here for a bit." Kim spoke, "I need a drink.
"Alya nodded, "It's….unnerving, right now."
"I don't know." Nino declared.
"It'll only be for an hour." Kim sighed, "There's a place to drink a block away. We can walk over and back."
"We can take my car." Adrien smiled, "I'll probably only have one drink."
Outnumbered, Nino groaned, "I'll drive us back."
After a quick round up, they left to a near by bar.
"This isn't how I expected this reunion to go!" Alya whined, "I thought Marinette would be miserable and we would be telling her, 'You should have be nicer to Lila'. Why is her life; her friends' life, better than ours?"
"Odine broke up with me two months after she found out that I had pulled a prank on Marinette when we were twelve." Kim sighed, "She never got over it. She said I was heartless and a monster to do that to a girl. She said she would be terrified of having daughters with me. I wasn't even thinking that far ahead."
"Looks like you are now." Nathaniel stated.
"I- She was the first girl to confess to me and our dates weren't horrible!" Kim retorted.
Alix chuckled, "Thought that was Marinette."
The former swimmer growled, "Shut up! It's not my fault that girls only want some slim-fit guy!"
"Mylene and Ivan are married." Nino pointed out, "Neither of them are 'slim-fit'."
"That's right!" Alya shouted, "You're blaming us, but guys only want model types. Where's the love for curvy girls, huh? Show me thicc love, dammit!"
"I don't know." Kim spoke, "Where did it go, Nino?"
The DJ rolled his eyes, "It was a mutual break up. We had conflicting schedules and barely had time to talk to each other. It was a ten minute talk at most and then class or sleep. Even now, most dates I've had have been coffee because I'm tired after a gig."
Nino realized his best friend had been quiet so far. He was sure he would have defended himself when his long-time ex brought up models. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted five shot glasses.
"Hey, Dude, are you okay?" Nino questioned, "You ususally don't drink this much."
Adrien turned to Nino and pouted, "I should have married Marinette."
The model didn't expect the table to erupt in laughter.
"Nice one, Dude." Nino smiled, "I understand you want to be included."
"I'm serious!" Adrien whined.
"Dude, if you really feel that way, you only have yourself to blame." his best friend stated.
"Huh?" Adrien replied, confused.
"You were the blindest idiot, as a teen." Alix cackled.
Alya rolled her eyes, "Mari was head over heels for you. It's why she bullied Lila, duh."
Adrien tried to shake off the alcohol, "Bullied Lila?"
Alya took another sip, "You know because you and Lila were dating."
"I would never date that Bitch!" the model shouted.
Everyone froze and looked at him.
"I never dated Lila." the Agreste heir snarled, "I would have never-She's not my type. Fuck, I would never date a model, period. I have always hated modeling; both Chloe and Mari knew that. I did it to get my father's attention."
Everyone looked at each other as the web of lies began to untangle in front of them. After all these years, the thread had begun to snap.
"You all thought Mari was bullying Lila because she liked me?" Adrien continued to rant, "You forget she helped me get with Kagami. Kagami even told me she tried to get us back together. Hell, 'Gami had a crush on her, but ended up with Felix instead. She still says that if Mari suddenly wanted to get together, she'd drop Felix."
No one knew what to say. Everything they thought they knew, that kept them as friends was slowly coming undone. They had been 'Team Lila' for the longest time and now….what were they? Adrien never dated Lila. Adrien said he would never date her. He believed Marinette wouldn’t bully Lila simply because Lila had feelings for him because Marinette helped him get a girlfriend. If that was all true, why did Lila say they dated? Why did she say Marinette bullied her? As if a distant echo, they recalled Marinette calling their friend a liar. Had Lila really lied to them all this time?
Kim let out a loud belch, "Like we believe that." his speech slurring.
"You're saying I'm lying?" Adrien questioned.
Mr. 'Just A Friend' had feelings for her?" Kim answered, "Yeah, right."
"Mr. what?" Adrien asked.
"It's your catchphrase." the former swimmer laughed, "I'm sure you all remember. 'Who, Marinette? No! She's just a friend. She's a good friend. She's a great friend. You'll like her once you get to know her and be friends with her. She's an amazing friend'."
Alix yawned, getting bored of the dying party, "You had 'FRIENDZONE' tattooed on your forehead."
Alya relaxed. She had been so close to believeing that she had betrayed the wrong person, but Adrien having feelings for Marinette was laughable at this point.
"Marinette obviously got tired of hearing how much of a 'friend' she was to you." Alya declared, "The shit I had to listen to when we were friends! How 'dreamy' you looked. The names of you imaginary kids! You two gettign a hamster."
"She found someone better." Alix shrugged, "He's taller and looks strong as hell. The only things you share in common are green eyes and wealthy families."
"Gold digging, Bitch." Alya snarled.
"I thought that, too." Alix admitted, "From what Juleka tells me, Marinette makes more than Adrien alone on her fashion commissions. That's without using her muscle hubby or his family name. Rose said that not even Luka compares. Kitty Section went with them to the Caribbean and …muscles and scars. Said Mari couldn't keep her eyes of him and they barely saw her after that."
"Demon God." muttered Nathaniel.
"Demon God?" questioned Nino.
"His brothers call him 'Demon Spawn', but he's chiseled like the sexy Lucifer marble statues that the church said no to." Nathaniel groaned, "I should have taken my chance, too."
Nino glanced at Adrien and saw him tearing up.
"Okay, I think we get the idea." the DJ stated, trying to change the subject.
"Alya's right. We tried to get them together so many times, but he always thought they were 'friendly outings' even though eveyone had a date." Kim continued.
Nathaniel took another shot, "Imagine getting kissed by the most popular girl at school and thinking she was 'just being nice'."
"Lila?" Alya replied, "I thought-"
"Lila was popular in class, only." Nathaniel answered, "Marinette was popular all over school. The true 'Queen' of the school."
Adrien quickly stood up, scraping his chair against the floor, and rushed out. Nino quickly rushed out after him.
"What's his problem?" Kim asked.
Alya's eyes trailed after Nino's back before she took another drink and turned back to the group.
Nino quickly spotted Adrien's car. He slowly approached it and found him sobbing in the passenger's seat.
'At least he didn't think he could drive.'
Nino walked around and sat in the driver's side. He simply patted his friend's back.
"Did-Is what Kim said true?" Adrien asked.
Nino unintentionally paused his hand's movements, trying to decide what would be best.
"Nino!" Adrien shouted, "You're my best friend! Is what-"
He could feel the weight of Adrien's gaze on him.
"We did try setting you up with Marinette." Nino spoke, calmly, "Everyone in the school could see she liked you. I don’t know when she stopped; we truly believed that she was mean to Lila because Lila was with you."
"Not in a million years." Adrien replied.
"You sure?" Nino asked, looking at his friend.
"Not even if it brought my mother back." Adrien growled, "I can't stand her."
Nino started the car as Adrien sunk into his seat. They drove in silence, but he faintly heard the model's sniffles. He knew Adrien might not possibly remember the night and he didn't want to say anything that was too damaging. It was a conversation for another time…if there ever was.
Adrien thanked Nino as they got out of the car and he took the keys form him, "She looked happy tonight, didn't she? Her smiles were always the brightest."
Nino watched as tears fell down his friend's cheeks. Adrien quickly turned and went inside. Nino sighed and took out his phone.
"Yo, Max. I need a ride." he spoke, "Got a minute to spare?"