#chloexalya

“You know I could just phase in and open the locker for you, right?”

Chloe jerked up and glared at the kwami. “Why didn’t you tell me this sooner?”

“I mentioned it a few weeks ago when you locked yourself out of your room and were too embarrassed to talk to the front desk, remember?”

“Fine, whatever, just open the locker for me, alright?”

Pollen rolled her eyes and popped into the locker, the door swinging open a moment afterwards. With a little bow, she moved out of the way so Chloe could place the gift she had gotten in the locker.

“I still think you should leave a note,” Pollen commented.

Chloe shook her head. “No way. It’s bad enough I’ve got a crush on her in the first place, I don’t need her ridiculing me for it.”

“Aww, but you could have added some flowers and chocolates and made it a grand gesture of your affection! It is Valentine’s Day afterall!”

“No, this… this is enough for now.”

“If you say so.”

The following morning at school, Alya opened her locker to find something in it that had not been there the last night. She stood there staring at it until Marinette poked her head around the open door to see what was up.

“Ohh, looks like someone’s got a secret admirer!”

“Shh! Keep it down! I don’t even know if that’s what this is.”

“Well then, open it up! See who it’s from and what it is!”

Alya sighed and picked up the package. There was a small note attached to the ribbon that read simply “Happy Valentine’s Day.” Hesitantly, she pulled on the ribbon and tore off the wrapping paper. Inside was a nondescript plain cardboard box, which she also popped open to reveal what was inside. She gasped. It was a lense attachment for her phone’s camera, making the quality of the picture comparable to that of a real photographer’s camera.

Someone let out an impressed whistle from behind them and they turned to see it was Adrien. “That’s quite the piece of tech right there. Who got it for you?”

Alya shrugged. “I’m not sure. There’s no name.”

“Well, whoever got that for you must really like you, I can tell you that those don’t come cheap.”

Alya knew that. She’d been longingly staring at it in the electronics store for months. She knew that the only people who actually knew that fact would have been Nino and Marinette. Then again, she supposed that anyone who knew anything about her could have guessed that was something she had her eye on.

“I know you’re all worried about who gave that to you and stuff, but let’s be honest, I know you’re dying to try it out, so why don’t we not look a gift horse in the mouth and take some pictures,” Marinette suggested.

Alya nodded. “You’re right, time to see what this puppy can really do!”

Unfortunately, the bell for class rang immediately after that, so the pair settled on a quick selfie just to test out the quality. Alya could have cried the photo quality was so much nicer than it had been on her phone before. She had about eight million new photo session ideas, including finding some way to get all of Paris’ superheroes into one amazing quality shot. She was sure she could convince Marinette to help her set that one up.

That one wouldn’t make the Ladyblog though. That one would be just for her.

At lunch, Marinette and Alya headed over to Marinette’s to eat and further discuss the gift.

“Aren’t you even a little curious as to who sent it?” Marinette asked, stealing a grape from the bowl in front of Alya.

Shooting her a look and pulling the bowl closer to her, Alya replied, “Of course I am! But what I’m not excited about is trying to tell whoever it is that they don’t have a chance because I’m actually in love with my superhero partner who doesn’t seem to feel the same way!”

Marinette sighed and put her hands on Alya’s shoulders. “You don’t know that though. For all you know, Queen Bee could feel the same way about you, but you won’t know until you tell her.”

“Just like you’ve told Adrien? And should I remind you about how torn up Chat was when you told him you didn’t have romantic feelings for him?”

“Those are two completely different situations. We both know that you’re far more confident than I am, and Chat wasn’t that torn up… was he?”

“Girl, you weren’t there for the aftermath.”

“Shit, okay, well I didn’t know that, so that one doesn’t count. Plus, I’m definitely getting vibes that she might like you too.”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better and to do it.”

Marinette shrugged, so Alya threw a grape at her.

Later that night, Queen Bee was sitting at the top city hall, lost in thought. Alya had seemed really excited about the gift, though a little wary over the anonymous nature of it. Either way, she was really happy that she could have made her smile like that, even if it was next to Marinette instead of her.

A soft pad of feet behind her broke her from her thoughts.

“Well fancy that, I’ve found the Queen,” she heard a familiar voice say from behind her.

“What do you want, tomcat?” she replied.

Chat Noir came and sat down beside her. “I needed to get out. Things at home are rough.”

Queen Bee made a noise of understanding. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“How do you deal with knowing Ladybug doesn’t like you the way you like her?”

Chat was taken aback for a moment, but sighed and replied, “It’s difficult, I won’t lie. But we’re best friends and just being friends and being around her is good enough for me.”

“That was unsurprisingly unhelpful.”

“It’s the truth though,” he admitted. Looking at the scowl on Bee’s face, Chat asked, “Why did you want to know?”

She thought about telling him to mind his own business, but she’d only been able to talk to Pollen about this, so having a friend to confide in wouldn’t hurt. She explained her situation without being too specific, stating it was a girl at school whom she had been less than kind to before she’d grown up and matured a little, but she still saw her as the mean girl. Then she mentioned the anonymous gift she’d left.

“Well, there’s not much you can do about the fact you used to be mean to her, but I think if you’ve grown up a little, she might think differently of you. The only thing you can do now is tell her and hope she feels the same way.”

“Oh, because that worked out well for you and Ladybug?”

“How’d you know about that?”

“Rena and I had a chat a while back about it. You know how close her and Ladybug have become.”

“Fair enough. That also has to do with the fact we’re both superheroes though, not only because she likes someone else. As for the gift part, I know you didn’t write your name, but don’t be surprised if she finds out who you are. I once had something gifted to me, but found out later on that it wasn’t from the person who’d given it to me.”

“I just hope she doesn’t laugh at me.”

“If she does, let me know and I’ll have a few words with her.”

“Thanks Chat. I’ll make sure to plan you a grand funeral afterwards.”

Chat chuckled and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, hesitating for just a moment before following through and said, “Anytime.”

Another sound of feet hitting the roof behind them caused both of them to turn around and see Rena Rouge walking towards them.

“Is this a bad time?” she asked, eyes darting between the two of them.

“Not at all,” Chat replied. “We were just chatting.”

“Oh, okay. Is it alright if I borrow Queen Bee here for a few minutes?”

Chat looked from Rena to Bee and back again, before shrugging and getting to his feet. He shot them both finger guns, then backflipped off the roof, vaulting away.

“Show off,” Rena muttered, rolling her eyes.

Bee turned to Rena and asked, “What did you want to borrow me for?”

Rena shifted a little uncomfortably, but noticed that Bee didn’t look like her usual self.

“Are you alright? You look a little upset. Do I need to beat that stupid cat’s head in?”

Bee giggled quietly, replying, “No, it wasn’t him. It’s nothing.”

“Bee, we’ve become pretty close, you don’t need to hide anything.”

“I just gave someone a gift today without telling them it was from me because I’m worried about what they’ll think knowing it was.”

Rena raised an eyebrow. “What’s there to worry about?”

“I wasn’t exactly… nice to her in the past. I was kind of a jerk actually.”

“Oh. I see why you’re worried then. Speaking from personal experience, sometimes you’d be surprised what people think if you’ve changed. There was someone who used to be a jerk to me as well, but in the last year or so, she’s changed a lot and while we’re by no means friends, I would at least say thank you without being a jerk to them about it.”

Bee thought about it and supposed while Alya might not like her, she probably wouldn’t patronize her for it. While she thought, she realized Rena was holding something.

“What’ve you got there?”

“Um, it’s actually for you,” Rena said, handing her a gift wrapped box. “I saw it the other day and thought it was really suited to you.”

Bee took the box.

“Can I open it?” Rena nodded and Bee pulled of the wrapping paper, unveiling the box for a Guerlain perfume. It was one she had yet to add to her collection, and she was surprised that Rena would spend so much on her. “Wow, thank you, but I don’t know if I can accept it. This isn’t a cheap gift and I feel bad I didn’t get you anything.”

Rena shook her head and Bee could see the hint of a blush staining the cheeks below her mask. “Don’t sweat it. It’s Valentine’s Day and I just wanted to get you something nice. I’ve got to go now though, see you later!”

Before Bee could process and respond, Rena was already jumping over the nearest rooftop and out of sight.

Rena ran as fast as she could before she crashed onto Marinette’s bed from the rooftop entrance, detransforming with a noise of defeat.

“Went that badly?” Marinette asked, handing Trixx a snack to eat with Tikki while they talked.

“Not exactly. I was all ‘I just wanted to get you something nice, bye!’ and then ran off. I don’t even know what she thought about it.”

Marinette stifled a giggle. “Don’t worry about it, I’m sure things will be fine. And if they’re not, I’ll tell her they have to be for the good of the team.”

“Gee thanks, as long as it doesn’t mess with the team dynamic, then everything is fine and dandy!”

“I’m sorry, you know what I mean. It is technically the most important thing in this scenario from Ladybug’s point of view. But as Marinette, I truly hope things go well. I know things were rocky when she first joined the team, but she’s really become a good friend and I want both of you to be happy.”

“Thanks, girl, I really appreciate it.”

When Chloe got home, she flopped down on her bed, groaning and staring at the box of perfume that had landed next to her. She felt awful that she couldn’t say anything back to Rena before she ran away, but then again, she didn’t even know what that would be.

Sure, they were good friends, but she liked someone else. Though, she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t thought about Rena that way. In a lot of ways she reminded Chloe of Alya. They were both witty, smart, took no shit, and gorgeous to top it all off. She wasn’t sure how she managed to keep her act together around either of them.

She could see herself falling completely for Rena Rouge, since she was pretty sure Alya would never feel the same way about her after their history in collège, even after what Rena had said about the gift. It was one thing to forgive, but a whole other matter to be more than even just classmates.

Opening the bottle, she smelled the perfume and sighed in delight. She loved any and all scents from this line and was super excited to wear it tomorrow at school.

Sitting in first period, Alya could tell something was different. Chloe was sitting in her usual spot right in front of her and had a soft smile on her lips, unlike anything Alya had seen on her before. Walking by, she smelled a sweet scent that was very familiar.

“Is that a new perfume, Chloe?”

Surprised by her name coming from so close next to her, Chloe jumped in her seat and reeled back when she saw Alya was inches away from her face.

“Y-yes, it is, what’s it to you- I mean- why do you ask?”

“What scent is it?”

The soft smile returned to Chloe’s face. “It’s the new one from Guerlain. It was a gift from a close friend.”

Alya hummed in reply and took her seat, staring intently at the back of Chloe’s head. That typical ponytail she wore reminded her a lot of the one Queen Bee always wore as well, and they had a very similar hair colour. Though she supposed blonde wasn’t a very uncommon colour, and fairly easy to recreate from a box. She had never noticed the black and yellow pin in her hair before today however. It looked like she was trying to hide it in her ponytail.

The biggest problem was, the more she thought about it, the more the similarities showed up between them. Especially the way Queen Bee acted when she first showed up. She was smug and a little rude, but the difference was she corrected her actions very swiftly afterwards, apologizing…

Oh dear lord, Chloe was totally Queen Bee.

There was only one way for Alya to find out.

After school, she asked Trixx if she could send a message like they could when they were transformed without actually being transformed.

“Sure, whichever one you decide to contact, their Kwami will just let them know that you’re trying to get into contact with them.”

“Perfect, let’s see if Queen Bee is available to have a chat.”

Chloe was surprised when Pollen said Rena Rouge wanted to see her, but she transformed and met her once again on top of City Hall, despite being anxious about finally talking to her after the last night.

When she landed, Rena was pacing across the roof.

“Hey, what did you want to meet about?” she asked, trying to keep it casual and light.

“I have a really random question. Yesterday you mentioned that you gave someone a gift without saying it was you. How did you do that?”

Bee was taken aback. That really was a random question. “I left it in their locker?”

Rena sucked in a breath of air, and thought Oh my God it’s Chloe.

“What?” Queen Bee said. “What did you just say?”

“Oh shit, I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

“Why would you think that’s my name? That’s such a ridiculous thing to ask and then say, you’re absolutely out of your mind, clearly you were dropped on your head as a child Rena,” Bee said all too quickly.

“Oh my god, you really are Chloe, aren’t you? I cannot believe this. Actually, I can, I can totally see how this a thing. Shit, I’m going to have to tell Marinette or none of this is going to make sense tomorrow.”

“We’re going to come back to that comment later, but I’d really like to know how you figured out who I was,” Bee responded, then detransformed back into Chloe.

Rena didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Well, fun little tidbit about my day yesterday, someone at school left a gift in my locker with no name and a note that said ‘Happy Valentine’s Day’ in it, which seems oddly coincidental given you did exactly that yesterday. Then you wore the perfume I gave you to school today.”

“Oh my lord, you’re Alya.”

Alya dropped her transformation as well, holding up her phone with the gift Chloe had given her on it. “You’d be right on that assumption, Queenie.”

Chloe stared at Alya for a moment before letting out a giggle, which then turned into a laugh, which turned into her laughing hysterically, and before she knew it, they’d turned into laughing sobs.

She tried to turn to hide the tears going down her face, but Alya had seen them.

“Why are you crying? I don’t know how to deal with a crying Chloe.”

“I don’t know, honestly,” Chloe replied between sobs. “This whole thing is just… so, so messed up. Here I am, hoping I can just fly by with a secret crush on you, and now I find out you’re one of my closest friends who hates my civilian form? How am I supposed to react?”

“I don’t hate you.”

Chloe turned around to see a pink faced Alya.

“What?”

Looking directly at her, Alya replied, “I don’t hate you. I used to, back when you were a grade A bitch, but… I don’t hate you anymore. Since we started lycée, you’ve just been an overall less unpleasant person. It was almost difficult to tell that you and Queen Bee were one in the same because of the personality difference though.”

“I tried really hard to be a better person as Queen Bee. I know I was awful when we were younger, but it was too late to completely flip my personality at school. So when I got the miraculous, I decided to reinvent myself. Make myself the person I’d actually become versus the person I couldn’t change to be in real life.”

“So if you could, you’d be like Queen Bee all the time?”

“In a heartbeat.”

Alya walked over and wiped the tears off Chloe’s face. “To tell you the truth, that gift I gave you last night wasn’t just some gift. It was meant as a Valentine’s gift between more than just friends.”

“Well if I’m being honest, even though I gave you that gift at school yesterday as more than just classmates, I’d almost given up on ever actually telling you how I felt. I kind of started to fall for you as Rena Rouge as well.”

Alya’s face deepened in colour. “O-Oh, really?”

“Will you be my belated Valentine?” Chloe asked.

“On one condition,” Alya replied. Chloe nodded and she continued, “Only if you start to actually be the person you are as Queen Bee at school.”

“Deal. As long as you’re there to help me if I slip up. Like when Rose wears too much of that awful perfume, or when Nino refuses to turn down his stupid music, or-”

“Chloe,” Alya warned.

“Sorry, old habits die hard.”

“Of course. Do you want to go get some ice cream or something?”

“I’d love to,” Chloe replied, taking Alya’s hand. As an afterthought she asked, “What did you mean you’re going to have to tell Marinette about this?”

“Oh girl, you’re going to go crazy when you find out, but I’ll let her tell you that one,” Alya replied with a wink, then transformed and leapt off the roof.

           Despite not being able to fly like her companion, Lady V had no problem staying on her tail as they cruised around the city. It was a quiet night, no sign of any akuma. It felt nice to soar across the rooftops with the wind ruffling her hair. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to the rush of energy she got each time she transformed. After a while, they took a break and sat with their feet dangling over the edge of a roof overlooking a busy intersection below.

           “So, Honey Bee-”

           “Must you call me that?” She groaned, but it didn’t faze Alya in the slightest.

           “What do you like to do when you’re not saving Paris?” She continued nonchalantly, swinging her legs slightly as she watched the cars and people several stories beneath them.

           “That information is top secret. Who knows what a fox like you would do if I told you,” She scoffed, attempting to restrain the playful smile on her lips.

           “Well, I like to hang out with my friends. Go to movies, have sleepovers, stuff like that,” Lady V commented, and after contemplating it for a while, Queen Bee finally spoke up.

           “Sometimes me and my friend dress up like superheroes and pretend to save the day. I always used to be Ladybug, but now sometimes I play you. But only because I can’t play myself, obviously, it would give me away,” She pursed her lips as Lady V bit back a smile.

           “That’s the nerdiest thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” She snorted, and Queen Bee turned away with a huff.

           “See? This is why I don’t tell you anything,” She growled as muffled screams sounded from below.  Lady V’s ears perked up, and she tilted her head to listen better.

           “Purse thief down below. Shall we step in?” She cocked a brow.

           “After you,” She shrugged, and they dropped down together, landing right in the fleeing crook’s path.

           “I’m not sure that belongs to you,” Lady V grinned crookedly, placing her hands on her hips.

           “And it doesn’t even match your outfit,” Queen Bee added, nose wrinkling in disgust. The criminal backed up a few paces before turning and darting in the other direction. “Ugh, why do they always run?”

           “I got it,” Lady V sighed, rolling her eyes and conjuring up an illusion with her flute.

           When the thief rounded the corner he found himself yet again face-to-face with the duo who waved at him smugly. His eyes widened in shock, and he shot across the street, dodging traffic to lose them up the next street, but to his horror they were waiting for him casually at a café along his route.

           “So, give up yet?” Lady V asked, taking a sip of her coffee. He eyed them in fear for a moment before tossing the bag and running up the street. The genuine articles landed calmly in the place of their doppelgangers and high-fived, picking up the purse and heading back up the street to return it to the owner.

           “Thank you so much, Lady V, Queen Bee,” The woman sighed graciously, hugging her bag to her chest.

           “No problem,” Lady V winked. “Stay out of trouble, kay?”

           “I’ll never understand why people think they can outrun a superhero,” Bee sighed as they turned and headed up the street. “It would be so much easier if they just surrendered.”

           “Yep. Cause ya know, doing your job is so exhausting,” She rolled her eyes.

           “Ugh, tell me about it,” She grunted.

           “Queen Bee, Lady V!” They both turned abruptly to see a scrawny man with a camera approaching them. “Do you happen to know if Ladybug and Chat Noir would be willing to let me interview them?”

           “Why would we know?” Bee huffed.

           “C-Could you ask them?” He bounced excitedly in a way Alya knew all too well. It wasn’t too long ago that she looked like that.

           “Sorry, pal. It’s just us tonight, but we’d be happy to do an interview if you’d like,” She offered, but he deflated quickly.

           “Nah, that’s okay. I really want to interview the real heroes,” He winced, turning quickly and walking away. Oh, no he didn’t.

           “What the hell does that mean?” She scoffed, placing a hand on her hip. “Are we not good enough for you?”

           “Sorry, I’m just not interested in interviewing the sidekicks,” He shrugged then instantly shrank under their collective glare.

           “Sidekicks?” Bee cocked a brow, stalking toward him. “You’re about to get your side kicked!”

           “Whoa, whoa, Bee,” Lady V hooked her arms under Bee’s shoulders to restrain her. “So not worth it, babe.”

           “Chat Noir and Ladybug worked together just fine before you came along. I don’t even think they need you two,” He said, and Lady V froze, head turning slowly to look at him.

           “You wanna repeat that?”

           “You two are just knock-off versions if you ask me,” He smirked, and Alya felt that little piece inside of her that kept her civil snap.

           “Oh, I think not. Hold my flute, Bee,” She shoved her weapon into her partner’s hands and grabbed the poor sap’s shirt and yanked him down to her level. “Listen up, you two-bit bean pole, Queen Bee and I work our asses off saving this city alongside Chat Noir and Ladybug, who, by the way, really appreciate our help, not that you care, but maybe if you’d come down off your fucking high-horse and appreciate the fact that you can sleep soundly every night because we’re out here protecting you, Ladybug and Chat Noir might consider doing an interview with you.” She shoved him backward, forcing him to stumble until he landed on his back.

           “And another thing,” She whipped around again and stomped back over to him. “You’re not even worthy of interviewing Queen Bee and I. She is smart and capable, and she looks damn beautiful throughout all of the butterfly bullshit that we put up with, and you will show her respect!”

           By this point, the poor lad was cowering on the ground, and Lady V snapped her fingers and pointed up the street where he swiftly scrambled to his feet and ran. She snatched her flute back from Queen Bee who was doing a poor job of hiding her smirk. Without another word, they leapt back up to the rooftops where Lady V let out a long growl.

           “I think you made him pee his pants a little,” Bee snickered.

           “Sorry, I just hate being unappreciated or compared to those two,” She grumbled. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I think they’re both amazing, and they’re way better at this superhero thing than we are, but…” She paced toward Bee, folded her arms over her chest, and shrugged.

           “I know. We’re never good enough because we’re not the originals,” She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. More importantly, did you really mean all that stuff you said about me?”

           Alya felt her crooked smile return.

           “Don’t I always say those things about you?” She cocked a brow.

           “Well, you’re always joking normally,” Bee rubbed the back of her neck.

           “See, that’s one thing I can’t stand about being compared to Chat Noir. Every day he looks at Ladybug like she’s his world, flirts with her, cracks jokes with her, but he never makes a serious move,” She shook her head and stepped closer, cupping Bee’s face in her hands and leaning in until their noses brushed against each other.