When she imagined being married to Adrien, it was far more romantic than…well, being a glorified roommate.
But then again, what did she expect? She'd agreed to this marriage to keep her in the country. It wasn't made of romantic feelings, at least not on his side. When she first saw the ring he'd bought her, she held out hope that maybe there was something more. But she should have remembered the conversation they held one late night in the office where Adrien said he had sworn off marriage. That it wasn't nor ever would be for him.
Why on earth was she a stupid woman thinking she could change that?
She started the timer, then went into her room to grab her sketchbook. Might as well burn through some pages while she waited for dinner to cook and Adrien to come home.
To the apartment they split.
She bit her lip. She had walked into this. Real marriage or not, they did exchange vows and had their names written together on a marriage document. They were legally husband and wife. She wouldn't leave. This was her mistake, and she'd stay with it. Because Adrien was not only her 'husband' and best friend. He was the love of her life.
Twenty minutes later, all she had was a sketchbook page of full tears. She heard the sound of the door opening and hurried to wipe the tears from her face. "Hey," she called out, shutting the sketchbook and pushing it far away from her.
"Hey," he replied, sounding dejected and frustrated.
Shoving down her own feelings, she went out into the living room to greet him and see what was wrong. Because she still loved him, no matter what. "What's wrong?"
"My father," he growled. "He's… Gah!" He dropped his briefcase and slammed his open hand against the wall.
Normally, Adrien kept a tight lid on his temper. When the lid burst, he grew into someone terrifyingly angry. He was loud, he paced the room like a cat stalking pray, he flailed and fidgeted and kicked things.
And he needed to burn off most of it before she could do anything.
So, she sat on the couch and just listened to him rant and shout while he paced the floor. She let it go a while longer before she stopped him by standing directly in his path. She just stared at him, her eyes locked on his. He was a step away from her, staring back. Slowly, she lifted her hands to grab his cheeks and gently pulled his head down so their foreheads were touching.
He grabbed tightly onto her wrists and leaned into her touch, like it was the only thing keeping him steady and sane at that moment.
"You are not what your father says you are," she whispered. "You know it. I know it. Most people know it. You are skilled. You are competent. You are kind. But most of all, you are not him."
He sniffed and tightened his grasp.
"So who are you going to listen to?" she asked. "Me or him?"
"You."
She smiled. "Good choice. Because I'm not spouting lies."
"I know you aren't."
"Good."
"I'm glad I married you."
Her heart twisted. And it was times like this that she had to realize he didn't know what a marriage was. He watched his family fall apart. He watched his mom abandon him and his father. He had so much potential, but he didn't know how much it was tearing her apart to live like roommates and him think of it as a marriage.
A buzzer filled the room. "Supper's ready," she said, pulling away from him to remove the chicken from the oven.
Once that was done, the chicken cooling and the oven off, she felt arms wrap around her torso and pull her against him. "Stay?" he begged on a whisper.
She struggled against herself. She was just his roommate, but it was moments like these she felt like she meant more to him than that. Times when he just wanted to hold her, making her feel like she was the only important thing in the world, that she felt like his wife.
And this was what made her stay.
She sank back against him, surrendering to his arms, tilting her head back into his neck and allowing him to hold her flush against him. "Okay."
They stayed like that for the longest time until Marinette realized their food was growing cold. "Do you want to watch a movie?" she asked. "Eat dinner on the couch tonight?"
He nodded. "I'd like that."
"You can pick."
"Okay."
Adrien popped in a movie while she loaded up two plates of food. It wasn't normal for them to do this, but every once in a while, it was nice to just unwind and disconnect. And Adrien needed a little bit of that right now.
"How was your day?" he asked as she handed him the plate. "Better than mine, I hope."
She smiled. He always asked. Even if he needed to vent first, he would always ask. "It went well."
"Yeah?"
She nodded. "Yeah. Nothing exciting to report."
He looked at her. "No cool designs, new fabrics, fun embellishments?"
"Not today," she said. "Today was just… a day."
He frowned, waiting for her to talk if she wanted to. But she didn't and they fell into comfortable silence during the movie.
Until children started running across the screen calling for their very happy looking mommy and daddy.
Her gut sank as she was suddenly hit with the realization that one of her biggest dreams of being a mother would never happen.
Because her "husband" was nothing more than her roommate.
She bit her lip. Hard.
She'd been married to Adrien for a couple months now, and she was only just figuring it out? How blind had she been?
She forced herself to stay, to remain calm. But the more she watched the family interact and the mom and dad have moments behind the kids back, she just couldn't help it. She sniffed.
And then took off running for her room.
"Marinette?!"
She shut the door just as she started crying. And she couldn't stop. She just sobbed harder and harder.
A knock shook her door. "Marinette. What is it? What's wrong?"
Even if she physically could answer, what would she say?
"Marinette." His voice was strained with worry. "Please, talk to me."
Slowly, her tears subsided, but she still refused to speak.
"Marinette," Adrien begged. "Please."
She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "It's nothing," she said.
He scoffed. "That is the biggest, most blatant lie ever."
She bit her lip to keep from crying again.
"Marinette," Adrien said. "I'm here. What's wrong. Tell me."
She refused.
He sighed. "Will you let me in, at least?"
She almost didn't. Almost. But she was weak when it came to him. She reached for the handle, turning it just enough to crack the door.
Adrien entered slowly, cautiously. He took a seat directly by her side. He didn't say a word, didn't make a sound. He just sat there, shoulder to shoulder, waiting for her to start.
She couldn't do much more than shut her eyes and bury her face into his shoulder. It burned that the man offering her comfort, the man she should be able to talk to about her wishes for the future, the man who had given her his last name and the rings on her finger, was the man who would had unknowingly crushed one of her biggest dreams.
She sniffed and begged herself not to cry again.
Easier said than done when his hand came up to hold the back of her head and his nose pressed into her hair. "I'm here," he whispered. "I'm here. Whatever you need, I'm here."
Her heart burned and the tears refused to be quelled. So she settled for crying into his shoulder for the rest of the night. Better than telling the most supportive friend in the entire world that he was the cause of her problems.