"Spots off!" She flopped on her bed and cried into her pillow. It felt endless, like she was being pulled into a void, the sinking feeling in her chest made it feel worse.
Why did he have to leave her now? Now when she realized she had feelings for him?
Her heart shattered all over again when she remembered him vaulting away from her. He had left her for good. She didn't know him, she couldn't ever find him. He was gone. And it was all her fault.
Her body raked with violent sobs and the kwamis looked dejectedly at her, unable to help in anyway. Tikki had explained what has happened with Catnoir to the rest of them but they couldn't help in anyway. Still they wanted to try.
"Marinette, it's going to be okay." Tikki flew closer to her and so did the rest of them.
"No, no, it's not. It'll never be okay. I love him, Tikki, but he's gone. Gone forever and it's all my fault." She felt like pulling her hair, screaming out her pain but she couldn't.
"It's all my fault." She murmured, breaking into tears. "All mine.." The kwamis surrounded her, each give her a tiny hug, offering as much comfort as they could. She wished it was working, but it wasn't.
Nothing was. All she felt was pain eating her inside out.
"Marinette."
All their attention turned to the new voice and Plagg flew in closer.
Marinette sat up and looked up at him, he was holding the ring in his little hands. He came up to her sadly. Her heart rate quickened as it dawned on her; it was all over. She would never meet him again. "Go away, Plagg. Go back to him, I won't take the ring." She sobbed and hiccuped lightly.
If he had his ring, there would be chances of seeing him again. "He told me not to come back even if you asked me to." He muttered sadly and she buried her face into her hands crying harder.
"Who is he, Plagg?" She asked abruptly. "Please tell me, I need to see him again. It can't end like this. It can't end at all. Please just tell me who he is." She was desperately begging, "I need to go to him." She cried, her body shaking, quivering.
"Marinette..." Plagg hesitated, "I want to, I really want to. But he made me promise that I shouldn't tell you. It was his last request from me and...I ..
I just don't have the heart to break it." He was never the kind to show emotions but it was hard to watch Adrien suffer that way and seeing Marinette, he had to admit he was hurting for them.
She knew Plagg was right. It was wrong to break promises made to the ones you loved. She was going through all that pain because of that. "He's just as hurt as you, Marinette. I don't get why he's punishing himself and you." He murmured lightly.
The air was thick, tension flooded and they all looked to Marinette, waiting for her reaction.
She suddenly snapped. "What about you, Tikki? You didn't promise him. Why can't you tell me? I want to know, I need to go after him, I want him back in my life. I love him." She choked out and buried her face in her hands.
It was hard for them not to just blurt out that it was Adrien, but they had to respect his decision. He was going through a lot and the last thing he needed was someone else breaking his trust again. They just needed to console her first. "I love him so much."
"He also loves you, Marinette. Right now, he's just hurting like you." Plagg sat on her hand and so did Tikki, "Just give it time, he'll come around."
"Time‽ Time‽ How much time? How much longer can I endure this pain? It hurts! It hurts so much!" She nearly screamed unmindful of the fact that it was almost one in the morning and her parents were home.
"Plagg, go back to him. Please go back to him. Please, I can't bear this."
After a long while of convincing Plagg, he finally went to Adrien. In his hands, was a letter Marinette had scribbled for him to deliver. He phased through the window of his room. The lights in the room were turned off but he could see Adrien tossing and turning on the bed. He flew closer till he was hovering above him.
"Go back to Ladybug, Plagg. Please don't make this any difficult." His eyes were shut with unshed tears but he could feel Plagg was there.
Plagg sighed, "She needs you, kid. You're punishing yourself and her."
"Just go" His voice was strangled, and he turned away. He didn't want to hear anything about Ladybug, he didn't want to budge, Plagg sighed and placed the letter down next to him before flying away.
He knew Plagg must have dropped something but he didn't want to look. He turned and saw the letter . He picked it up, it scented a lot like her and from the night light he could see the marks of tear drops.
He dropped it back, he wasn't going to budge.
"Hunny, it's been 3 days. Three whole days. You haven't stepped out, you haven't been eating or sleeping. Your father and I are worried." She brushed her hands lightly on Marinette's face. "Why won't you tell us what happened?"
Marinette didn't reply and Sabine sighed . Like every other day, She stayed in bed , never getting up for the third consecutive day. Her parents were worried sick but couldn't do anything. After giving up trying, She went back down to the bakery.
Later at evening, Alya come back like every other day. She greeted her parents and took some snacks up to Mari's room. She only ever talked to Alya or Tikki, but no one else, not even her parents. Alya already knew the whole story and she'd been trying to get Marinette to be strong but she always failed.
"School was fine today, Adrien finally showed up." She tried to lighten the mood as she sat beside Mari on the bed. "He even asked about you, you know, if you were in sick." Apart from a nod, She didn't give any response.
Alya understood that no she was in love with Catnoir now but she couldn't have just stopped loving Adrien . She sighed seeing that she was probably too hurt to even reason anything else.
"It's been a week. So suck it up because you're coming with me." Alya pulled her off the bed with a yank and into the bathroom. She was determined to get Marinette out of the hole she was stuck in nothing was going to stop her.
"And put down that Catnoir doll, it's getting creepy." She gestured to the doll cuddled in her arms and tried to reach for it but Marinette was faster. She moved and scoffed. Like every other time that Alya had attempted taking the Catnoir doll from her.
" Come on marinette, you're being ridiculous now. Hugging the doll wouldn't help." She walked towards her and wiped the tears that slipped from her eyes. "I know, it's just... I miss him too much." She admitted and her eyes welled up again.
The past week had been very hard for her but Alya had been there to lead her through. "Yes, and it won't help, okay?" She took it from her and led her to the bathroom. Today she had finally convinced, more like compelled her to go to school and she was going to try everything possible to get Catnoir out of her head.
"Suck it up, Marinette, you're coming." She was seated on her desk chair and Alya tried to cover her swollen eyes with make-up. Mari couldn't argue even if she wanted to. She didn't want to go to school, the confines of her room were better for dealing with her pain.
She didn't want to answer prying questions or receive pity glances. Alya tugged her arm and pulled her up. "Come on."
They made their way out but when Alya turned away, she slipped the doll back into her bag.
Adrien and Nino were on the stairs talking. After his rendezvous with Ladybug, he had spent two days acting sick and sulking ok his bed but his father didn't let him the third day.
He had to go to school and he had tried to avoid as much people as he could but it was obvious that he was going through something which he refused to share with anyone.
Being around his friends had helped. And soon he could try to, even not fully, he could try to forget Ladybug, get over her. But something was missing. The cheerful beauty who sat behind him in class.
In the past week, he hadn't seen her, she didn't show up. Alya said she was sick and when she didn't show up the next day, he sent her texts. All wishing her to get better and to which, she replied to none.
Like the gods decided to shine on him today, he saw Marinette and Alya walking in. His eyes lit up but he noticed she wasn't looking up, her gaze trained on the floor. Maybe she was upset, he didn't want to ask right away.
"Marinette!" He rushed down to meet with them leaving Nino who was surprised at the way he abruptly interrupted their conversation. But like everyone else, he knew that Adrien always had a soft spot for Marinette. He followed and caught up with him.
Her head shot up at his call and she saw him hurrying to them. "Hi, Marinette. Um... Alya said you've been sick and I was...uh...worried." He rubbed the back of his neck anxiously. He didn't think through what he was going to say to her. "I..uh.. hope you're better not. I also kinda missed you."
She was supposed to feel good. Adrien missed her, he cared. A week ago, she would've killed to hear those words from him. But right now, as she looked up into his eyes, all she could see was Catnoir. All she could remember was the disappointment and hurt in his eyes that night.
Her heart felt impaled and a single tear slid down her cheeks. He had been waiting for her reply but he was shocked to see tears trickle down her cheeks.
Alya immediately stood in front of her, "Um...she's better. But right now, she would prefer less questions. Meet you guys in class." She pulled Marinette away leaving a confused Adrien and Nino. Adrien could've sworn he saw vivid tears pouring from her eyes. Her eyes were dull, they never were.
"I think we're missing something." Nino stated the obvious. "We should go to class." He continued.
Something about her eyes felt familiar. It reminded him of the look in Ladybug's eyes. He shook it off. Right now, he needed to find out what was wrong with her. He had to help her. It was the least he could do.
Class went by quickly and he always took quick glances of Marinette at every interval. Her eyes looked puffy and she kept her head low throughout. He had to talk to her before school was over, it was his only chance.
After lunch break, he didn't see her in class and wondered where she could be. He knew Alya would never tell him if he asked so he took permission from Mrs. Bustier to go to the bathroom. He had to find her. He looked around, where could she be?
She washed her face in the bathroom. Her tears and the water smeared the makeup on her face so she decided to wash it all off. Her face looked pale again, her eyes swollen and sunken.
She couldn't go back to class looking like that, everyone would ask. Maybe she'd just go home and text Alya later.
She made her way to the locker room, "Marinette, where are you going?" Tikki popped out from her purse when she noticed she wasn't heading back to class. "I want to go home. If people see me this way, they'll ask too many questions." She murmured.
"But your parents would wonder why you're back now." She sighed realizing that Tikki was right. "I just wanna be alone." She collected her bag from the locker and made her way out.
He saw her walk out of the locker room and immediately wanted to go after her. He watched her walk towards the entrance but then she turned and entered the storage room.
Something was definitely wrong with her and he was gonna find out. He rushed over to the storage. The moment he walked in, he heard her voice. She was crying and seriously. He made his footsteps light so sgd wouldn't hear him coming in.
The closer her walked, the louder her sobs were. He walked in fully and saw her rested against the wall, sitting on the floor, her knees pulled up to her chest and her face buried in her hands.
Her body shook, raking with violent sobs. He could literally see her quivering. What or who could've done this to her? His chest tugged painfully at the sight of her. He quickly went next to her and sat beside her.
"Marinette." He called her name so lightly but it echoed in the empty room.
She recognized the voice immediately and her head shot up to confirm her suspicion. It was him. How did he find her?
He was mortified when he saw her face. It was drained, her eyes sunken, skin pale. What had happened to her?
"Marinette, what's wrong? What happened? Who made you this way?"
She turned her face away from his questions, that was what she was trying to avoid. She wrapped the doll in her embrace to ensure it was covered from his sight.
If she spoke too much, she would reveal her identity. But why would it matter? Shadow moth was already gone and she needed to let her pent-up emotions out.
She knew Adrien was only concerned but what would she say to him? That she broke the heart of someone who loved her ardently? Broke his trust? That she was in love with somebody who wanted nothing to do with her?
She just nodded in negation, "I'm fine." She murmured trying to sound okay but her voice betrayed.
He moved closer to her and reached out to hold her cheek. He softly turned her to face him. She was confused, how could Adrien still make her feel the way she was feeling when she was seriously hurting from heartbreak.
She felt a certain comfort from his warmth. "No, you're not. You can't lie to me. You're not fine." He wipes the pad of his thumbs on her tearstained cheek. "You're not fine at all. Please tell me what's wrong? Please, Marinette." She nodded in negation.
"Please, I want you to let me in. I want to be here for you, make you feel better. It really does hurt to see you like this."
And it took only that to break her. She latched onto him, throwing her arm around his shoulders.
Word count; 2573 words