Flutter

Chapter 13

Kiss

Friday was finally here, and Marinette couldn't be more grateful. She put on too much concealer and color corrector to make herself look somewhat alive, and headed out to school. Chloe and Nino met her at the bakery's entrance, walking with her and cracking half-hearted puns. Marinette managed a few feigned giggles, obviously not fooling her friends. Friends. Chloe and Nino were her only friends at the moment. Well, and Chat Noir, though their relationship gave her a headache at the moment.

While they were walking down an unoccupied street, Marinette explained her recent dreams, telling them everything she knew. A part of her was nervous to tell Chloe, though she pushed past that. Chloe trusted her implicitly. Maybe it was ok to return the sentiment.

"So…was it Hawkmoth that was suffocated last night?" Chloe asked, igniting a flame of realization in Marinette's stomach.

"Shit. Probably."

"Ok," Nino sighed, taking off his glasses and rubbing his eyes before placing them back on his head, "so what now? Hawkmoth isn't dead, right?"

Marinette pursed her lips, a million possible answers to his question swimming in her head. Was he really dead? Was he just attacked? She couldn't quite figure it out, which just made her head hurt even more. "I don't know."

"He has to be, right? The Kwamii Eater — Black Widow — said 'he'd be gone' or whatever," Chloe thought out loud, moving her hands hurriedly as she spoke. "If it wasn't talking about Hawkmoth, then who was it talking about?"

With a shiver, Marinette had a horrible realization, her feet turning to cement as she stopped walking. Chloe and Nino stopped next to her, sending her questioning glances. "Chat," Marinette breathed her partner's name. "Chat! Shit!"

"Oh fuck," Nino hissed, his hands flying up behind his neck. "Can you check on him? Shit, this could be bad!"

"You don't think I know that?" Marinette growled in response, tossing her backpack at a stunned Chloe and running around the corner into an empty alleyway.

"Please work, please please work!" Marinette hyperventilated the words, each gasp for air sending a new volley of frustration across her body. "Tikki, transform me!"

Immediately, Marinette could feel the transformation wash over her, accompanied by temporary relief. As soon as she was in her Ladybug form, she checked her yo-yo, the relief becoming permanent upon seeing a message from Chat. From this morning.

Ladybug, I need you. Please find me when you have the time. ~Chat Noir

Ladybug stared down at the message, looking at the time reluctantly. She couldn't miss another day of school. She'd have to talk to him after.

She typed out a quick response before hastily de-transforming. As soon as Ladybug's strength ebbed from her bones, she stumbled out of the alleyway, right into Nino's arms.

"Woah, Mari, watch out," he chuckled — a tight, forced sound obviously used to cope. "Did you find out…?"

"He's ok," Marinette sighed, using Nino as a crutch to get herself upright. Chloe handed her backpack back with shaking hands, her face pale as a sheet.

"Then who died?" Chloe whispered the question, voice shaking ever so slightly.

"I…" Marinette closed her eyes, shouldering her backpack. "I don't know."

The first thing that struck Marinette as she walked into homeroom was the tense, mournful mood lingering in the air. The poison within her writhed in glee, though she pushed that down.

"What's going on?" Marinette whispered to her friends, who both shrugged in ignorance.

"Haven't you heard?" Alya snapped from her new seat in the front row, eyeing Marinette with red-rimmed eyes. "Gabriel Agreste is dead."

Marinette stumbled back, the poison almost bringing a rancid laugh to trembling lips. Nino and Chloe caught her by her elbows before she could fall over, their own hands clammy with the news. "What?" Marinette couldn't figure out which of the trio spoke.

"Adrien...he's staying home. For a while, probably," Alya's tone was a knife against Marinette's frayed nerves. "If you even care, that is."

Marinette managed to ground her feet, standing without the help of Chloe and Nino now. Alya looked directly into her eyes, gaze softening ever so slightly, as if she recognized the weakness in her. "He's really dead," Marinette but back a shuddering sob. This wasn't supposed to be happening. This was bad. Poor Adrien.

"You can bring him his homework tonight," Alya sighed reluctantly, eyes clouding in pity before she looked away. "My mom wants me home right away, anyways. He'll be expecting me, but it's fine."

Marinette nodded, taking her seat shakily behind her former best friend. She laid her head in her crossed arms, shaking while Nino rubbed soothing circles in her back. This was bad.

When Marinette approached the Agreste mansion, her heart instinctively hammered against her ribs. In spite of her resolve to leave romance behind her, she still had a crush on Adrien. A part of her wondered if it would ever truly go away.

Steeling her frazzled nerves, she pressed the ring button, startling when the doors opened almost immediately. They must have been expecting her.

Marinette silently made her way up to Adrien's room, shuddering at the desolate state the mansion was in. Where were the staff? Where was the usual hustle and bustle of the manor? It was a chilling desert where once there was an oasis.

"Come in, Mari," Adrien called through the door before Marinette could knock. Gulping and readjusting Adrien's work in her arms, she opened the door slowly, eyes catching on Adrien. She almost dropped his things, biting back a gasped breath at his current state.

The model was in a pair of sweatpants. Just a pair of sweatpants. His chest was partially covered by the comforter draped lazily over his midriff and pelvic area. His hair was a mess — it almost reminded the heroine of her partner's for a moment — and his eyes were rimmed a bright red, making his verdant irises pop. Marinette could see where the tears had fallen, as they left shining tracks down his cheeks. His head was pressed into a pile of cushy pillows, his neck craned to look away from the door and towards the wall of windows.

"Adrien," Marinette set his things down on his desk before sitting on the bed next to him. "Adrien, are you ok?"

He let out a bitter laugh, finally turning to face her with broken eyes. "What do you think?"

Marinette swallowed hard, biting a shaking lower lip. "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I wish I'd been there for you. I wish…I wish things were different. I'm sorry."

Adrien nodded, closing his eyes and letting a few more tears fall. "Shit, Mari, I'm not mad at you anymore. How can I be? When…when you could die any moment."

Marinette stiffened, causing him to open his eyes and push himself up to his elbows. "Die? Why- why would you say that?"

"Anyone could die," he answered reluctantly, studying his classmate with withering eyes. "At anytime, anyone could die. I know that now after Gabriel…after father—" his voice caught on the last word, more tears streaming down to his chin. Marinette moved out of instinct, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him close. Adrien sobbed into her hair, arms hugging her tightly in return.

"Shh, it's ok. I'm so sorry. It'll be ok I promise," Marinette cooed into his right ear, running gentle fingers through golden locks.

"He's gone!" Adrien lamented, breaths wracking painfully against his entire body. "Gone! I never- I should have- he never said it though but I wish- I wish he knew how much I- how much I—"

"It's ok," Marinette's words were light as she interrupted him. "I've got you. Let it out."

As if her words were a command, Adrien let out another wet sob, his words tangled into it. "I love him! I love him so much and I never told him!"

Marinette hummed lightly, her fingers traversing down his neck and coming behind his back. She pressed herself further into him, sighing sadly when he did the same. She'd been a bad friend lately. This was the least she could do to make up for it.

"He knows. I know it." She didn't know how, but she could feel the truth in her words from the pit of her stomach. Gabriel really did love his son, even if he hadn't shown it much at all.

Adrien pulled back suddenly, wiping his tears away on the back of his left forearm. He looked into Marinette's eyes, gaze flickering down to her lips hastily. Then, he did the last thing Marinette expected him to do.

He kissed her.

Hey all! What do you think?

First and foremost, I wanted to apologize for not updating this weekend - my only real excuse kinda lends itself to my next announcement.

I'll be updating once a week from now on - on Saturdays, meaning the next update will be on Saturday. Honestly, it's because I'm slowing down with this story, and I'm almost to the point of posting the last chapter I have written - and I haven't written all the chapters yet. Soooo, once a week Saturday posting it is!

That being said, what do you think? There's a lot going on, and I'm so excited to know what your reactions are :) and before anyone mentions that they're out of character, they're traumatized. People don't act like themselves when they're dealing with trauma - I can tell you personally.

Until Satrday!

~Ashtyn