She paced around her hotel room, whipping her long hair in a ponytail and straightening it, tucking the last few loose strands behind her ear. She stood in front of the mirror and gave herself one last look over, rubbing on the creases on her jacket and hoisting up her pants. She went to her shoe rack and grabbed a pair of dark blue peep toes, slipping in them with minimal effort. The blue creature that was carefully following her movements continued eating her bowl filled with a mix of beans, sunflower seeds and leafy greens from where she was perched on top of the dining table.

"Are you almost finished, dearie?" Even with the term of endearment, her voice still sounded ominous.

The blue creature flinched. "Y-yes, Miss."

"Now, now, Duusu, we've been over this. I don't want you to be afraid of me. As long as you do as you're told you have nothing to worry about."

"Yes, Miss."

"Good. I care about you, sweetheart. I always try to take your interests into account."

"How thoughtful," she sneered softy. She grimaced when the woman laughed.

"What was that, Duusu-dear?"

"Nothing, Miss."

She nodded and moved to the bed, sitting down near the headboard and opening the drawer from her bedside table. She took a photo out of it, staring at the person on it intently before softly tracing her fingertips over it. Sad feelings bubbled inside of her, but she repressed them, blinking away the tears that threatened to fall.

"I'm coming for you. Just you wait, honey."

She closed the door with a deep sigh, softly groaning in frustration. On her way to her desk she stomped her sneakers into the floor a few times for good measure. She flopped down in her desk chair and made the computer come to life. The Ladyblog homepage was staring back at her, laughing in her face. She turned it off again with another huff. Today was just not her day.

Two hands suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and she relaxed when they started to softly squeeze her.

"Long day?" Nino asked Alya from behind.

Her eyes closed and she sacked in her chair, making him chuckle. "You don't even want to know."

"Want to tell me about it?"

She took his hands in her own and swiveled the chair so she could face him. She gave him a grateful smile which in turn changed into scowl. "So what if I'm invested in my blog? It's been my whole life ever since I created it, and it's still used and viewed often. It even is the main reason I have gotten here!" She released his hands and gestured wildly to the room around her. "Of course I'll be maintaining it as much as I can."

"And there is no problem with that."

Her arms folded. "That's not what Luc thinks. He just brawled at me for being busy with my blog instead of 'actual news'. I know he is nervous because we're gonna get a check-up next Tuesday and he wants everything to be perfect, but Ladybug news is the only enthralling news at the moment, except for politics and that's not my division. What else am I supposed to do? The things I find for my blog are also what I use for my articles, what's so bad about that?"

Nino shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't want it to be the only news he's got to offer? Personally, I agree with him on the fact that maybe you should lay off LB for the time being. There's a lot going on right now and I think she would like to lay low for a while."

She frowned at him. "But if there's a lot going on, shouldn't I be the one to report that? Because, in case you forgot, that's literally my job. It might not be LB based, but that's top news currently, especially with that new villain chick. You're telling me I should just let that go? Again? Why?"

He grimaced, as if he was hoping she didn't want to continue the argument. "I'm no superhero, but if I defeated a super villain years ago and basically didn't have to do anything until now, I would need some time to adjust and to come up with a game plan."

"She has been fighting with Chat Noir though. Doesn't that count as something? You don't think he's a villain?"

"If anybody doesn't trust him, it's me," he gritted out, "but their fights are obviously different than when they fought Akumas, Hawk Moth or this new villain."

"The only difference I can see is that with those, they were fighting together and otherwise they're fighting each other," she spoke with a cocked eyebrow, her arms still crossed over her chest.

He slowly dragged his hand down his face and sighed. "What I'm meaning to say is that this is something bigger, I can feel it. Don't you?"

She bit her lip in thought before looking up at him again. "I suppose. I'm not liking this either. You think she'll be another Hawk Moth?"

He held up his shoulders with a shake of the head. "I honestly don't know. But isn't that your job to find out, you said? I'm only a DJ working at a music shop." He ended with a grin and lightly shoved her shoulder.

"Very true," she smiled in return. "That reminds me, what are you doing here anyway? Lunch break?" She eyed the bag he had put down on her desk before he surprised her, a familiar logo on it.

He nodded. "I went by Marinette's parents, but we can always go somewhere else. I was hoping you could get some time off. I'm sorry, I should have called."

"No, it's fine." She got up and gathered her phone and a notebook, placed them in her handbag and rolled her chair to her desk. "I was going to slack off anyway as protest, might as well leave for lunch. I'm starving and a few buns won't do."

He chuckled. "Aren't you scared of getting fired if you just leave?"

"Oh please," she flipped her hair to her other shoulder. "I'm Luc's best writer and he knows it, he won't survive without me. Luckily, I'm very aware of that and not afraid to use that for my own benefit."

"All right, lunch it is. You prefer something?"

They stepped in the elevator and Alya pressed on the ground floor button, making the doors close. "I would like sushi at that one place, you know? But that's so far and I don't feel like sweaty trains right now. Let's just go to that Turkish pizza place near your shop, I'm craving their garlic sauce."

Nino nodded and opened the front door when they reached it. Once they were on their way to said pizza place, Alya shivered when a breeze flew past them.

"I should have brought a coat," she mumbled to herself. She gasped when warm fabric covered her. She let her gaze falter to Nino and noticed his dark blue, long-sleeved shirt which now lacked the brown body warmer that was draped over her. "You didn't have to," she spoke, but in contrast pulled the body warmer tighter around her. She carefully sniffed the collar and sighed softly at the familiar smell. It shouldn't give her the butterflies in her stomach she was having right now, but she couldn't help it.

"I wanted to," he simply said, seeming oblivious to her action.

After a short walk, they entered the warmth of the pizzeria and set themselves on the barstools at a small table. A few menu cards were scattered on their table and they both took one.

"How was your day?" She asked, feeling guilty for not asking so sooner, but she was too busy venting to him.

He smiled. "The usual. Not much happened. One kid who wanted to practice on one of our guitars almost sliced his fingers on the strings though, so that was pretty funny, but otherwise things were quite normal."

"You're mean, you know that, right?" She chuckled.

He shrugged with a smirk. "It's part of my charm."

Marinette poured another glass of red wine, then the glass next to the first one on the coffee table. She put the bottle on the floor next to the couch, took both glasses and handed one to Alya.

After a long sip, Alya groaned. "That's the stuff I need. Just so you know, I'm only your friend because you can get your hands on expensive wine."

Marinette giggled. "That surprises me."

"Seriously though, aren't you worried Adrien is going to find out? Since you refuse to tell him I even exist." She frowned at the end of her sentence.

Marinette sighed and twirled the glass in her hand, making the wine slosh almost over the rim. "He said he was having dinner with some at work. Which means they'll probably have their own alcoholic fun, so I think it's justified. Besides, it's not like he actually checks how many bottles are missing from the cellar. Of course I can't finish two bottles on my own, but he won't know that."

"You have to tell him some day though," Alya said after another slurp. "You can't go behind his back forever, M. It's unfair to either of us and it's bad for your health, you're a walking amount of stress."

She put the glass down on the coffee table and leaned back into the soft, gray pillows of the couch. "Work has just been-"

"Oh no," Alya interrupted, "don't come at me with that excuse. Marinette, we both know that's not all that's going on." She rested a hand on Marinette's knee to make her look at her. "Talk to me, please. I talked with Nino today about my problems and it helped me feel a million times better."

Marinette stared at the ground, not saying anything, before turning her eyes back to Alya. "Speaking of Nino, he went by the bakery today. He was acting odd."

Alya closed her eyes and a puff of air left her lips, an obvious sign of frustration. "What do you mean by odd?" She eventually spoke, knowing that she wasn't going anywhere with her friend.

"He was being all paranoid and mysterious, warning me and stuff. I don't know what's up with him."

Alya's brows furrowed. "I see. Well, he was acting strange with me too. He was saying all this weird stuff about Ladybug and saying I should stop trying to get a scoop. I understand he wants me to be careful, but this could be huge!" Her arms spread wide and the wine almost dropped on the pristine couch.

Marinette looked down at her legs in thought. "Yeah… careful…"

"I just want you to be careful."

"Why?"

He dragged his hand down his face with a groan. "Look, M, this is not a conversation we should be having right now."

"I don't care. You wanted to say something, so say something."

"Fine," he sighed. "Just think about what you're doing. Don't make stupid decisions. And don't trust someone because you feel like you should trust them. That is all."

The sound of the front door lock unlocking, dragged her out of her head. It was already too late though because before she could tell Alya to leave, hide, anything, Adrien was staring at them, his jacket thrown over his shoulder and his eyes wide, a glimpse of anger in them.

"What the hell?" He said after a moment of silence.

Marinette was standing as quickly as she could, softly approaching him and shielding Alya. "Adrien."

"What the hell?"

"She's just a friend coming over. There's no reason to get mad, okay?" She tried to soothe.

"…I thought you didn't see each other anymore," he managed to grit out, still on the edge of exploding.

"I could come with crap at you that we recently bumped into each other, but I don't want to lie anymore. The truth is, we never stopped seeing each other. I didn't want to upset you, so I kept my mouth shut. I never intended on going behind your back for so long and I'm sorry!"

"What about the others?" He said, his voice still a mere murmur.

Marinette bit her lip, not responding.

"Nino? Do you see Nino?" He raised his voice now, startling her and Alya behind her.

"…Yes."

"More?"

She hesitated, rubbing the tips of her fingers together. "I sometimes call with other old classmates or see them in the city, but nothing really more than that." She gathered her courage and straightened her back. "It shouldn't matter though, I like seeing them! We have that reunion coming up soon. My plan was trying to convince you to come, you hadn't thrown away the envelope after all."

Adrien in the meantime, had started to pace in the room, mumbling under his breath. Alya watched him carefully from her spot on the couch, not speaking and silently sipping her wine.

"Adrien, I need you to understand," Marinette said when he was obviously ignoring her.

"Unbelievable," he eventually spoke a little louder. "I can't believe this. You know how I feel about them. You know they're all against me, against us!" He stepped closer; wide, angry eyes aimed at her.

"Don't be ridiculous!" She sputtered, stepping back.

"I'm not being ridiculous, Marinette."

"You kind of are," Alya interrupted with a raised brow.

His nostrils flared and his stare rested on her. "You don't get say in this!" He was yelling now. "They're a bad influence, trying to pull you away from me!"

Alya snickered. "You're delusional, man. I'm not the reason M is doubting your relationship."

"Alya!" Marinette hissed in her direction, then quickly looked back at Adrien, a look of betrayal on his face.

"…You're doubting our relationship?"

"No! No, not at all! I'm just under a lot of stress, there's a lot going on at work and we've just been less… I don't even know. We're going through a rough patch, but we can fix that, I'm sure! It's probably me anyway!"

He breathed deeply, seemingly calming down but still mad. Only now did Marinette notice that his eyes were glazed over and she realized he must be reacting as intense as he was now because of the alcohol in his system.

"Adrien, let's get you to bed, okay?" She spoke softly.

"No!" He exclaimed. "No, I'm not done here yet." He pointed at Alya accusingly. "I want to have a word with her, alone," he growled.

"Absolutely not," Alya said defiantly, gulping down the last bit of her wine and putting the glass on the table. "I'm not crazy. I will not be alone in a room with you."

"Adrien, please calm down," Marinette tried, on the verge of tears.

"Don't even try, Marinette," Alya said calmly, grabbing her coat. "I'm leaving and you're coming with me, I'm not letting you stay alone with him either."

"He's not going to hurt me-"

Adrien grabbed her wrist, pulling her close to him. "You're not going anywhere with her!"

"Get off her!" Alya yelled, somehow twisting his arm and freeing Marinette. "Not hurt you, huh?" Alya spoke in her ear.

Marinette stared at him in shock. She had seen him at his worst, but never like this. This wasn't her husband, it couldn't be.

His angry gaze turned pleading. "Please, Marinette, stay away from her. Stay here."

She wanted to say something in return, but she wasn't sure what she could say. Her phone was still in her pocket she knew and when she felt that Alya had pressed her coat against her back, Marinette turned around and threw it half around her before running out the door.

Alya didn't say anything to him when she started to follow her to her car. She normally wasn't a fan of driving while not even having finished a glass of wine a minute ago, but for now she would make the exception. She unlocked the car and Marinette stepped in the passenger seat next to her. They were waiting for Adrien to come out the door or to call for them through the window, but when no such thing occurred, she drove off. In the beginning, no one said anything. Only when they were three blocks further, did Marinette start to cry. Alya wanted to comfort her, but she had to pay attention to the road and frankly, crying it out in silence was probably what Marinette needed. When they reached her apartment, Marinette's crying had reduced to sniffles and Alya pulled her out the car, holding her close and rubbing her arm as she dragged them inside.

Nino raised both eyebrows when they entered the apartment, pausing his videogame and shrugging off his headphones. He mouthed, "What's going on?" but Alya only shook her head and directed Marinette to go freshen up in the bathroom.

Alya took off her coat and hung it on the coat rack, sitting down next to Nino on the couch with a huff.

"I don't know what's happening right now," he stated.

"You don't want to," Alya groaned. "These two really need to get their shit together."

"What, Marinette and Adrien?"

"Yeah."

"What happened?"

Marinette was cleaning herself up in the meantime, rubbing the remnants of mascara that had dripped down her face. She checked her phone, seeing that she had missed calls from Adrien, but she didn't want to have anything to do with him now. She still couldn't find it in herself to turn it off though, but made sure she turned off her GPS and anything else that could make him track her and put it in her coat, taking it off. When she felt she was ready again, she opened the door to the living room.

"How are you feeling?" Alya asked softly.

"Like crap," she responded, sitting down in between the pair with her coat on her lap and resting her head on Alya's shoulder. She was silent and breathing evenly for a minute before breaking in a fit of tears again.

"Oh, Marinette," Alya soothed, pressing Marinette's face against her chest and subtly rocking her. Nino scooted closer and rubbed up and down her back.

"Alya explained what happened. You want me to go talk to him? I know we haven't spoken to each other either, but maybe I can say something to make it better?" He offered.

She shook her head. "I don't think that's a good idea." She got a notification on her phone and she knew from the sound that it was Adrien. She sat up straight and her hand moved to her pocket.

"Don't," Alya warned, grabbing her wrist. "Turn off your phone."

"I'm just going to read the message, not respond," Marinette replied stiffly and took a look at the screen. There were multiple messages she had missed from him, but she hadn't noticed them before.

Please don't leave me

Marinette I love you

Come home, stay with me, please. I love you

I don't want you to leave me

I love you

Alya and Nino read along with her over her shoulder and both sighed.

"Maybe I should go home," she whispered.

"No way," Nino said, grabbing her phone and turning it off. "He made a mistake and now he has to deal with it."

Alya pointed at him. "Agreed, he's obviously not thinking clearly and neither are you. I think it's for the best if you stay here tonight and then you guys can yell at each other all you want tomorrow, but at least you'll have straight head then."

Marinette sighed and stared down at her lap. "He's just sad and scared I'm leaving him for real," she mumbled. "Which I'm not, but we never really had anything like this before. He feels betrayed because he still has bad memories of you guys and he let himself go when he saw you."

"That still doesn't justify this, M," Alya said.

"Then he had that thing with my parents as well this week, and he just thinks you guys all want us to break up. But you guys don't want us to break up, it's all in his head!" She cried out. Nino and Alya shared a look and Marinette frowned. "Right?" They didn't react and kept their gaze on each other. "Oh my God, no! You do want us to break up!" She sprung from the couch and pointed at them accusingly.

"Of course not," Nino reassured with placating hands. "If you guys are happy then there is nothing we can do but support you."

"Just because you 'support' us, doesn't mean you want to support us," she gritted through her teeth. "So tell me, what's your issue with him?"

"We're just looking out for you. Adrien hasn't been himself since-"

Marinette interrupted Alya before she could continue. "That's why he goes to therapy. He even told me he might want to see his father soon." Even thinking about the man made her shiver, but she repressed it. There were other things on her mind right now. "He's improving."

"Yeah but, M, you can't tell me all is well in paradise, especially after tonight. We're all just worried about you. We don't want his problems to have any effect on you. We know you can handle yourself, but it's taking a toll on you, don't deny that."

Marinette whimpered. "I can't just leave him now, especially since things are not okay yet. He needs someone, needs me. His problems became my problems when I married him and I won't walk away from them, even if it'll kill me."

Nino rubbed his forehead with a groan. "That's what worries us."

The trio sat in silence after that, Marinette's sniffles the only sound filling the room. Alya left the room and returned after a few minutes. "I think it's best if we all just leave tonight behind us and go to bed. Marinette, I put some clothes on the bed, you can take my room. I'll sleep on the couch."

Marinette immediately started her protest. "But-"

"Please, just take it, I don't want argue about this. You need the rest the most, believe me."

"I'm not letting you sleep on the couch," she countered.

"She can sleep with me," Nino offered. "That okay?"

Alya's cheeks flushed but she nodded. "Sure."

Marinette noticed the lingering smile between them and she couldn't help but fondly roll her eyes. Those two obviously had some things to talk about as well. Or not, depending on what would happen if they ended up in the same bed.

"I'll just go to bed then," she spoke softly and left the room. She got dressed in the plain t-shirt and dark purple joggers Alya had laid down for her and crawled under the covers. She had to leave this night behind her, just like Alya said.

The door creaked open and a bit of light came through the slit, followed by Nino's face. "Do you mind if we talk for a bit?"

"It's okay," she said and sat up, turning on the nightlight and waiting for him to set himself next to her.

"Got a lot on your plate, huh?"

She eyed him quizzically.

He covered her hand with his and squeezed it. "I didn't want to tell you like this, but I feel like you need it." He took a steadying breath before meeting her gaze again. "I just want you to know that I'm very proud of you. You've been helping people for so long and even when life's a bitch, you still continue to amaze me because you just keep going. You're a hero, never forget that."

Marinette stared at him, letting the words sink in before realization hit her and she started to cry. She crawled closer to him until his arms wrapped around her. She continued to sob until there were no more tears left, all pent up emotion finally coming out.

"How long?" She choked out.

"Long enough," he chuckled. "Who do you think got Alya off your back whenever you had to sneak off in school?"

Marinette laughed bitterly. He had known longer than she thought. "So, I don't think Alya knows then?"

"No, don't worry, I didn't tell her. I thought that should be your job."

She nodded. "Thank you. I want to tell her, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for that. I'm internally hyperventilating because you know, if you haven't noticed."

He rubbed her arm. "I get it. It's a lot. But know you can count on me, okay?"

They remained in peaceful silence until Marinette managed to speak again. "…Do you know who Chat Noir is?"

His serene expression turned sour. "I wish. I would have killed the bastard by now if I did."

"Please don't," she spoke softly, but quickly.

"What, you still on his side?" He eyed her skeptically.

"No," she sighed, "I mean, I don't know. I just don't want anyone to hurt him. There's more going on than you or the public know. People need to stop making assumptions so I can think and figure out this mess."

"You don't have to do it alone, you know?"

"I know, and I have my sources, so don't worry. I'll get the help when I need it."

"That's good to know." He looked at the time on the alarm to his left. "Is there anything else you want to talk about? Tonight perhaps?"

She shook her head. "No, I think I'd rather not think about it at all. I just want to sleep for forever."

He gave her one last hug before wishing her good night. Right before he could close the door, Marinette called out to him.

"Yeah?"

She hesitated before speaking. "I… Thank you for keeping my secret for as long as you have. And for being my friend. I trust you."

He beamed at her. "Anything for you, Marinette."

After being MIA, I have returned at last! The last chapter was posted roughly two months ago and I'm very sorry. Luckily for you guys, my busy schedule is finally depleting and I'll have more time to write. This chapter didn't really turn out as I planned, but I'm content with it.

Next up: The morning after ;)

Also, question: how do you guys think Marinette will react when Adrien apologizes to her tomorrow?