atdao257 asked:
Salt fic where Lila gets exposed so she decides to reveal that Adrien knew all along from when she first appeared and when Adrien tries to claim that she is lying to save himself, Marinette confirms that Lila is actually telling the truth and that Adrien told her that it was her own fault for being bullied due to Lila’s lies because she refused to listen to his advice about taking the “high road” and to stop trying to expose Lila even though she told him about the consequences of letting Lila keep on deceiving others and bringing their hopes up with promises that they both knew would never happen... Marinette also decides to confess to Adrien that she used to have a big crush on him but no longer does and doesn’t even want to be friends with him anymore since she believes that he doesn’t truly care about others as he claims he does, especially those he claims are his friends... Marinette actually thanks Lila for letting her see who her true friends are in their class such as Juleka and Nathaniel as well as even Sabrina with Chloé as more of a professional acquaintance while the others turn out to be nothing more than false friends who never truly cared about her... This is all happening in the school courtyard so most of the rest of the school are witnessing all of this...
Lila was furious. She wasn’t sure what had happened, or how things had gone so wrong. Yesterday, she was queen of the classroom and her classmates followed her every order. Now, they all glared at her with an animosity so strong that Lila was sure they wanted to kill her.
Alya had finally decided to check her sources for something she was about to post on her blog about Lila’s latest adventures. This time Lila had talked about how Jagged had wanted her input on his newest song. Normally, she wouldn’t have bothered, but she actually bumped into Jagged before she posted and thought it was the perfect opportunity. She was shell shocked when not only did Jagged deny the new story, but told her that he had never even heard of Lila. She spent the rest of the night researching with the class and they quickly realized what had happened and that they had been tricked.
They came in early the next morning, trying to apologize to Marinette, but she just ignored them, sitting with the few members of the class that had stayed true to her. As they continued to try and apologize, Adrien sat at the front of the class, smiling. He knew he had been right. He had taken the high road and waited, and sure enough, Lila was found out. He felt a little bad for what Marinette had endured over the liar’s reign. The whole class turned against her and had bullied her relentlessly. He may feel bad, but he also knew if she had just listened to him and taken the high road, things would have been fine. The class would have still found out, and Marinette wouldn’t have suffered. But she didn’t listen to him, and that was on her. He tried to warn her.
Then Lila came in and all hell broke loose. The class was screaming and yelling at Lila, who was very confused and didn’t know what was going on. But once the class stopped yelling all at once, opting instead to yell individually, she figured it out. She had been found out. They knew she was a liar. Her beautiful kingdom of lies came crashing down around her. She knew there was no salvaging this, nothing she said would soothe the class now that her spell was broken. But she was determined not to go down alone. She knew she couldn’t take Marinette with her, now that the class wouldn’t believe her lies. But she did know someone she could destroy, and it wouldn’t even be a lie.
“You may be mad at me, but you should also be mad at Adrien. He knew I was lying from the start and didn’t tell you or defend Marinette.” The class erupted, defending Adrien, not believing the liar, until Marinette stood up. The class instantly quieted, wondering what she was going to say. Thinking Marinette would come to Adrien’s defense since she was crazy about him, the class was shocked when Marinette backed Lila’s claim. “For once, she is telling the truth. I told Adrien about the lies, but he already knew. He claimed we needed to take the high road and ignore her lies. Just let her continue tricking all of you. I even warned him of the more damaging lies she was telling and how it could really hurt all of your futures. He still insisted on the high road, even when she was promising jobs and things that we both knew would never happen. I didn’t listen to him and tried to tell all of you, but you all turned on me.” The class had the good sense to look ashamed, not meeting Marinette’s eye.
Marinette looked at Adrien, and genuinely wondered what she ever saw in him. The kind look in his eye that she had once loved so much, was now just panic as the class began to glare at him too. “The only reason I ever went along with your ridiculous high road plan, was because I loved you Adrien.” Adrien was stunned, he had never realized. “Marinette, I’m sorry but I love someone el-” Adrien didn’t even get to finish his half hearted rejection before Marinette put a hand up and interrupted him. “Loved, Adrien. Not love. Past tense. I haven’t loved you in a very long time. Not since I realized how much of a coward you are. I don’t even want to be friends with you anymore, or even speak with you again. I could never be friends with someone that, as far as I can tell, doesn’t truly care about others. You only care about others when it is convenient for you and gives you more freedom from your father. That is not what friends do.”
Adrien stood stunned, and more than a little ashamed. He didn’t want to admit that Marinette was right. He tried coming up with justifications for his actions, but couldn’t find any. Marinette went to the door, passing the stunned class, Adrien, and Lila. Juleka, Nathaniel, Sabrina, and even Chloe stood up and joined her, having been at her side through it all. Before they left, she turned back to look at Lila who was still furious. “Oh and Lila? Thank you. If it weren’t for you and your lies, I never would have found out who my real friends are. These four stuck with me through it all, no matter what lies you told, you were never able to take them from me. Meanwhile you showed me that everyone else in here was nothing but fake friends. They clearly didn’t care about me all that much if they turned on me so easily. So, thanks for that. You said you would ruin my life, but you actually made it better.”
With her piece said, her and her friends left the class. Lila and the rest of the akuma class were left gawking, while students who had been in the hall stared into the classroom in shock at what had just happened. Word spread through the school like wildfire, and the akuma class became pariahs in Dupont. Marinette and her group switched classes and were welcomed with open arms. Marinette never thought she would thank Lila, but her life was much better now. And in a strange way, it was all thanks to Lila and her lies.
