Some strange things are afoot...

(C) I own none of the characters

"MARI! MARINETTE! PLEASE COME BACK I'M SORR – WHERE ARE YOU EVEN GOING?" Marinette ignored Alya as she charged towards the expanse of trees encroaching onto the property, desperately seeking the hidden safety of the shadows as she tried to breathe.

Adrien. Adrien. Adrien. Adrien. Even her heartbeat betrayed her.

Because he had just stood there. He hadn't even looked as if the sight of her had caused his entire being to dissipate and every repressed thought, memory, and hope he'd ever had of her to simultaneously resurface in that one moment, as was currently happening to her.

"Mari! Seriously…pant…stop for a sec…" Alya had caught up and grabbed a hold of Marinette's arm, spinning her and holding her in place by the shoulders, eyes wide and pleading.

"How could you not tell me?" She whispered, eyes closed and all emotion and life drained from her completely. Alya flinched as if slapped and her bottom lip trembled, unable to look at her friend that she'd as good as betrayed.

"He's still Nino's best friend Mar, Nino wants him here and I can't take that from him. I know that we agreed that we'd never mention him again, I respected your decision on that, but this is Nino's day as well as mine, and I couldn't not have you come to my wedding, either. I need you here," she tentatively wrapped her arms around Marinette's shoulders, trying to still the quaking there; "I won't be able to get through this without you. Please?"

It took a while to coax Marinette back into the house, and she stayed silent the entire time as she was lead by Alya to her room in a trance. Adrien hadn't made another appearance and for that Alya was immensely grateful. But there was still the rest of the weekend to get through, and dinner was in an hour.

"Just…let me know if you need anything, alright? You can unpack, sleep, whatever, and I'll come get you for dinner, ok?" Marinette was left hesitantly and she sat on the edge of the sprawling bed, blankly staring at the wall. Tikki struggled out from her pocket and sat forlornly on her shoulder, cheek to cheek. The two were used to sharing their grief.

"Maybe…this will be a good thing?" Tikki suggested haltingly and Marinette cringed at the closeness of her voice and the content of her suggestion.

"Tikki," she breathed and her kwami nodded with understanding. She knew the darkness in her charge's heart better than anyone, she was all too aware of the current abandonment, betrayal, and crushing, crushing hope that was warring inside, chocking her breaths and silencing her sobs.

Marinette caught sight of her reflection in the mirror above the vanity table and froze. The girl looking back at her was pathetic. Pale, weak, with red-rimmed eyes and a trembling chin. The girl looking back at her was not Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and she sure as hell wasn't Ladybug, either.

Not that the regular Marinette could own to that nowadays, though, she thought bitterly, dragging herself to her feet and causing Tikki to fall onto the bed covers with a startled squeak.

"So what?" She hissed between her teeth, fists clenching and eyes narrowing. Why had she even dwelled on that boy for all that time to start with? Just because they had been almost dating when he disappeared meant nothing. Almost dating was not actually dating; there was no reason for her to still feel bitter about his rejection. She was 22 years old, for crying out loud! She'd paid for her own college and managed to make rent (sometimes), she didn't need a boy she'd pined after four years ago. She wasn't even the same person she'd been back then, why would she think that she would still be interested in who he was now?

She stomped to the bathroom down the hall and washed her face before making her way downstairs, smiling with satisfaction as the voices grew noticeably quieter with her arrival.

Five pairs of eyes turned to greet her as she entered the dining room and she inwardly smirked at their obvious nervousness. Well, at least four of them were nervous.

Green eyes met hers and she stared at them, refusing to back down, to submit, to forgive. A claw raked its way down her spine, a cold breath blew over the nape of her neck.

The eyes that looked back were empty.

…

"Isn't this nice…?" Cutlery clinked as Alya tried and failed yet again to initiate sustainable dinner table conversation. Nino smiled at her encouragingly but the tangible, increasing tension between their two best friends who had refused to have contact with each other since highschool was just not helping the matter.

Marinette finally caught on to Alya's resting pout and sat up straighter, reminding herself that she was there for the girl getting married tomorrow, and her residual feelings, whatever they may be, for the boy sitting in front of her would have to take a back seat.

She turned to Nathanael on her right, an old friend from highschool who was currently attending the same college as her for graphic design.

"Have you started your final projects yet? I know they're like three weeks away but I think I'll try to get a head start on them so I'm not as rushed as last year – remember the croissant incident?"

Nathanael snorted with laughter, nodding enthusiastically and trying to swallow wine at the same time. Alya beamed and struck up a conversation with her friend from college – Melodie – and the awkwardness evaporated. Until Nathanael started asking Adrien questions, at least.

"So...Adrien," he begun, effectively capturing Marinette's undivided and begrudging attention, "I heard you've been studying abroad in America for college, how has that been going?"

He was in America this whole time? Marinette subconsciously gripped her silverware tighter.

Adrien smiled and she noticed it didn't quite reach the rest of his face.

"Yes, I actually just graduated and am back to get some family affairs in order. Hopefully it shouldn't take too long, but I can't say I haven't missed France a bit." His speech patterns were different than what she remembered, his calm and kind voice had been replace by something cold and cultured and not, she hated to admit, unlike his late father's. Even his clothes resembled the impeccably dressed Gabriel Agreste. As a designer she admired the fine tailoring and flawless style. As a human she resented its sterility.

"And what about you, Alya?" Nathanael continued, having come out of his shell in college and now overeager to talk once people actually started talking back, "How's the Ladyblog coming? Are you still doing that?"

A shadow passed over Alya's face and Nathanael obviously instantly regretted his questions.

"Four years," she began and Nino rolled his eyes, preparing for the rant he knew was coming, "four years of my life I gave to those two, and how do they repay me? By splitting up. Gone. The end. Not even a farewell tour or autograph signing or agreement for the rights to a TV show based off their crime fighting adventures. Chat hasn't even been seen for years. Like, at least Ladybug shows up occasionally, even if she did undergo that outfit change, and her fighting style is a bit, um, different now. Chat just disappeared into the goddamn night leaving her behind and I just get really emotional about it ok? SHUT UP."

She directed the last part to her fiancé who was sniggering silently and earned himself a fake slap across the cheek. Everyone else took up the shared outrage, as the duo had been a huge part of their growing up and they were all too emotionally attached to the heroes for their own good.

Marinette stared at her half eaten food. When she looked up she realized that Adrien had excused himself from the table and was nowhere to be seen.

Something's FiShY~