Marinette sighed deeply, a glass of wine dangling from her fingertips.
The sun was setting in the horizon, the colors blurring together into the night sky. In the distance, the girl could see the Cathédrale Notre-Dame across the Seine. Soon the facade would light up and shine as the sky darkened.
Taking a dainty sip from her glass, the young woman couldn't help but marvel at the beauty of her home and allow the majesty of Paris evoke the emotions in her heart. A city devoted to love.
It made her feel slightly better that she was rejected.
The dark haired girl refilled her glass, smiling a bit at the bottle and silently thanking her parents. The moment she stepped through the door, they could tell something was wrong. That the light in her eyes was just a little bit forced.
Maman reassuringly stroked her cheek and gave her a hug. Papa ruffled her hair and opened a nicer bottle of wine for dinner. They trusted her to be responsible with the rest.
It touched her to know that they loved her so dearly and she appreciated their trust in her to be a bit more like an adult. Marinette didn't feel like a little girl anymore.
When she found out her class would spend a day working at Le Grand Paris, Marinette knew it was going to be exasperating. Chloé had long ago ruined anything positive about her father's hotel.
True to form, the spoiled child made sure to manipulate the assignments, laughing haughtily when her father announced Marinette's job for the day, Concierge Runner. No doubt, visions of slaving at the beck and call of some V.I.P. had danced through the blonde's mind. Or to rub salt in the wound, perhaps the vile girl had planned to co-opt Marinette as her own personal servant.
Luckily, Jagged Stone, her absolute favorite musician, decided to take that moment to come and book the largest suite the hotel had to offer. She got to be specially assigned to one of her idols and was sent on a journey to find a pair of Eiffel Tower sunglasses befitting a rock god.
Unfortunately, her usual luck decided to kick in and her search was for naught. The gaudy and ostentatious style he desired did not exist in any of the souvenir shops surrounding the Tower.
Marinette almost gave up hope, but a little encouragement from Tikki, her Kwami partner, reminded her that she was not without her own talents. The aspiring designer whipped into a frenzy to make the glasses herself. She even had just enough time to finish the inadvertent commission while defeating a disgruntled Akuma whose target just so happened to be the rock star himself.
As the day finally started to draw to an end and with her missions accomplished, Jagged nearly gave her a heart attack when he accepted his custom sunglasses with accolades. In true rock star fashion, he declared that he loved them, posted a selfie with her on Instagram, and gushed over her 'true talent'. As a token of his appreciation, the rock star and his assistant presented her two tickets to his concert for the night. She had been so excited and hopeful that her rollercoaster of a day would end on a high note.
Marinette sighed and took another sip of her drink. But that was where everything went downhill. She got greedy.
It took all of the part-time superhero's willpower to muster up the courage. Every fiber of her being screamed to run away or just take her best friend, Alya. But she knew what she wanted more than anything in the world. She walked up to her crush, Adrien Agreste, and asked him out on a date to the concert.
Marinette knew it was a long shot. He was a model, the only son of Paris' most famous fashion designer, and a very sweet boy. She was just the girl that could hardly speak a complete sentence to him without breaking out into a babbling mess. Nevertheless, she was riding high on the excitement of getting the Jagged Stone's approval, not to mention the exposure from getting her picture and a custom design broadcast to all of his followers.
All it took was two words to bring her joy and excitement to a screeching halt.
"I'm sorry."
Two words. That's all he needed to shatter her heart. To make her feel like her world was over. The one thing she dreaded beyond anything else had come true and the hurt made her want to crawl into a hole and die.
To the model's credit, he was gracious when he broke her heart. He gave a heartfelt speech about not wanting to string her along when he had feelings for someone else. He wanted to still be friends. With his emerald eyes staring into her soul, she wanted him even more. But he didn't want her.
Marinette knew she was probably being a little impolite when she didn't say anything in return.
Her thoughts were too jumbled. Her feelings too raw. Rejection hurt, plain and simple. So... she just walked away.
Woodenly, she smiled at Alya who had waited in hope and solidarity. The consoling look on her best friend's face and the comforting hug made Marinette feel again.
Alya was torn when she gave her the concert tickets, obviously feeling like a bad friend if she dared to accept the precious gift. The dark haired girl sternly admonished that they would go to waste otherwise. To enjoy a date with Nino as an early birthday present.
Bless her heart, the esteemed blogger tried desperately to change her mind. Begged her to at least go to the concert together since she had earned the tickets. Marinette had to go so far as threaten to throw them into a storm drain before Alya reluctantly snatched them away, declaring her the sweetest, kindest, and most wonderful friend that was too good for a spoiled pretty boy anyways.
Now here she was. Reminiscing alone on her rooftop about a day that wasn't even over yet. Or maybe it was just moping. At the very least, she wasn't feeling quite as terrible as she did before, the hurt beginning to dull. Wondering what could have been.
What if she had four tickets to share instead of two? What if she had just listened to her own insecurities and run away like she did every other day?
Marinette gave a bitter laugh as she emptied the last of her wine into her glass.
Living in a land of make believe. Grasping for the barest hints of affection. Maybe it was for the better that she ripped this bandage off.
How long could she have stared at Adrien from afar before it destroyed her? How long would she have agonized over ways to make him notice her? How far would she have gone?
"No," Marinette muttered, shaking her head. There was no maybe. This was better. She was Ladybug. A superhero. Defender of Paris. Obsessing over a boy that didn't share her feelings was not for her.
Yet thinking about her alter ego and unrequited thoughts made her wonder about another blonde male that played a prominent role in her life, Chat Noir.
Her petit minou. Partner in crime. The other half of her team… The only boy that flirted with her on a regular basis.
Swirling her glass, the young woman watched the dark liquid ripple. She had to admit, she enjoyed their back and forth. The way he so casually could belt out a pick up line or compliment her while they battled to save the city from the Akuma of the day.
He kept her spirits up. Made her laugh, feel special. Even if he wasn't serious, she appreciated the thought. The possibility that someone out there might find her attractive, might love her and wish to spend the rest of their life with her. To make her feel wanted, desired, and let her be strong, free. Loved.
But a wave of longing shuddered through her body. A sudden wave of loneliness that ached from her heart. An image flashed in her mind. Raindrops. An umbrella. Her first crush. The images slipped away into the night.
"Adrien, I wish I could have been the one for you," she murmured, draining the rest of her glass. A couple tears rolled down her cheek. "C'est la vie, mon amour… Adieu..."
There was no sense in worrying Tikki any more. Her heart ached, but she was okay. And she would recover. She was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the Miraculous Ladybug.
Carefully, the dark haired woman grabbed the empty bottle and glass and dropped down through the skylight to her room.
In the distance, a shadowed figure whispered to the night, "I'm sorry."