The conversation had started out neatly enough. They chatted about normal things – how Marinette's meetings for that day had gone, how boring work was for Adrien now that his 'love bug' had abandoned him…

But then she'd brought up Nathanael, mentioning the lunch outing they'd had earlier in the day, the parks they'd visited while eating ice cream.

And that had set a time bomb off.

"What is with Nathanael?" Adrien screeched. "He's all you talk about now!"

Marinette looked taken aback, eyes wide with concern. "Adrien…I don't…" She trailed off, eyes looking off-screen. Her moment of bliss came to a screeching halt, the acidity in his tone startling her.

Her eyes flickered back at him to stare a moment longer, mouth slightly parted, taking in his scrunched features, darkened with anger.

Her countenance shifted, a stone mask of neutrality on her face. "Nathanael and I are old friends, and I'm happy to see him," she stated quietly, albeit a bit stiffly.

"Just friends?" Adrien practically sneered, tone icy.

"What is with you?" Marinette looked at him in disbelief, erupting with her own anger, and blushing at his insinuation. "Why can't you be happy for me like a normal person! I haven't seen him in years!"

"Yeah, and I'm sure that now you're together you'll make up for all that lost time," he snapped, hands fisting in front of him. "Consider my offer to move in revoked," he hissed, ending the call with a scathing glare.

Marinette gaped at the black screen, the words on her tongue dying. Her reflection was staring back at her, shock petrifying her features.

We're not together, she'd wanted to say.

But…a voice in the back of her head prodded her. That's not what it looks like.

Not what it looks like? What what looks like? Her thoughts were spinning in circles around her.

What is 'it'? There is no 'it'…

No 'it' with Nathanel, that is…

And no 'it' with Adrien either, she thought numbly.

And then she burst into tears, hands fisting in the sheets around her.

Little did she know that in Paris, thousands of miles away, a young man was heaving with tears in a similar way, the pouring rain soaking into his very soul.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Author's Note: I deeply apologize if things look like they are moving too quickly (and that this chapter is so short) – that is because I really need to finish this story because I can't focus on any one of my stories when there are more than three…again, I humbly apologize. I thought speeding it up would be better than deleting it all together K

As always, feedback is appreciated!