Hiya everyone! This is my first of three entries to the Flash Fiction Challenge by SlytherNoir is the Miraculous Ladybug Amino. I highly recommend checking it, should you be on Amino. The contest deadline is August 15, so there's plenty of time.

Chloé is my favourite character not because she's a bully, but because she has the most character development. For me, characters make or break stories. If the character is good, I'll enjoy my read. Chloé's backstory intrigues me and softens me towards her. Her redemption arc makes me giddy--because I love her so much and want her to become a better person.

I like to speculate on why she is the way she is and this fic let me write a theory.

I know Alone doesn't quite follow canon, but think of it as an AU.

Today is June 21. I wonder if she remembers what happened in 2013. I remember oh so clearly.

It was the day she left.

Who: Luka Couffaine, Audrey Bourgeois, and me, Chloé Bourgeois

What: Féstival D'Été

Where: Eiffel Tower, Paris

When: June 21, 2013

All month, she had been showering me with hugs, kisses, and gifts. More than usual. I really should've realized something was off. Adrien was happy I was happy, Luka was chill, and Nath was a bit skeptical. I should've listened to him.

Daddy didn't join us for the festival; there was a political meeting. Typical. No time for his "precious" family. Maybe that's why she left. I don't blame her. But without me? Why? I was sweet. Innocent. I wasn't hellspawn.

Anyway, Luka had joined us. We had so much fun: Jagged Stone, face paint, a clown show (never again!). When it was time to go, Mom got me to drive with Luka. She said she had an errand and Anarka drove me home. Lukie, along with Nath and Adrien, were my best friends so it wasn't unusual.

Before I stepped into the car, however, Mom pulled me into a squishy hug like Mademoiselle Bustier's. She whispered, "Je t'aime, ma belle fille. Je vais te voir encore."

"Of course I'll see you again!" I exclaimed.

Someone grunted behind me and Mom's smile tightened. "Yes you will. Now go along. Anarka is waiting."

I never saw her again. She vanished for five fucking years. All she left behind was a note on my pillow that read, "I love you. Don't forget me."

I tore the hotel apart, room by room and piece by piece, looking for her. Then I realized: this was no game. I screamed enough to wake all of Paris at 22h00. I heaved Mr. Cuddles across the room. I shoved everybody away. Daddy never noticed.

Adrien, that cinnamon roll, tried to see me at the hotel but I pushed him away. When he joined CFD, I started hanging on to him so much so he'll hate me.

Luka tried to serenade me with his guitar over the phone. When that didn't work, Anarka dragged him over. I did the only thing I thought would work to deter him: insult him in horrendous ways that make me flinch even now.

Nath kept drawing breath-taking pictures of me and mailing them to me. He sent comics about me. But I shoved him away with harsh words, targeting the tender spots of him that nobody knew about.

I don't think they will ever forgive me. Why should they?

Oh, how I miss them and want to be with them again. The quiet giggles under the table, the soft strums of a guitar, the sharp scratch of a pencil. But if I learned one thing, it's that love always bites you in the ass. I can't stay with anyone.

If my own mother left me, how could I be sure that they wouldn't?

Never so sincere,

Chloé Bourgeois

When Audrey says, "Je t'aime, ma belle fille. Je vais te voir encore," she is saying, "I love you, my beautiful girl. I will see you again."

Please review and favourite; each one means the world to me. Thanks for reading and have a good time doing...I don't know...you-stuff.Bug out!