Chapter |Twenty-Four
Thirty hours.
For thirty hours Peter Parker waited in anticipation for Marinette to return back New York. He wasn't sure what he was expecting, but he could tell he freaked Aunt May out when he decided to do a sudden deep cleaning around the apartment.
"Why the sudden interest in keeping clean?" May had asked, and Peter realized he never updated her on what happened and what was going on.
"Marinette...she's on her way back to New York." Peter says, and there was something about saying it out loud that caused a weight to be lifted off his shoulders.
Yet there was still an unsureness he felt, and May saw it. She saw how his shoulders were still squared up and not relaxing with relief. There was more to the story, she knew it but she knew how hard it was on Peter when she first went missing. He hadn't been old enough to remember his parent's deaths, so Marinette was his first loss. She could only imagine what it was Marinette had gone through, but right now wasn't the time to ask what happened to her. Her priority was Peter.
"Penny for your thoughts?" May softly asks, reaching to touch Peter's shoulders to snap him out of his thoughts.
Peter turned towards her, "I was cleaning the apartment because this was her home too. This is her home, but what if she doesn't want to come back here? What if she thinks she no longer has a home? Or want anything to do with me? She was a savior of Paris, a hero over there and has so much responsibilities. I always thought being Spider-Man was hard, but she makes it look like child's play. She was taken, tortured and loss her kwami. She was mind controlled and made to hurt others-"
May silenced him by grabbing his hand tightly in her's, shaking her head and taking on a stern look in her eyes. She understood now it was the fear Marinette had outgrown him from her life and no longer had room. She knew how much he wanted her home to be here with him, because he didn't want her alone in the world. His heart had always been big, but she never realized how big it truly was.
"She's been through a lot Peter, but you being here as a constant- that matters. Most people would say at your age you don't know what love is, but I know you love her. You wanted to protect her from your secret, you were there for her to help pick up broken pieces of her heart. The bond you two share is truly beautifully mesmerizing. The first time you brought her here, I saw the change in you. Then I saw it in her as well. She looked at you with the same eyes you looked at her with." May offered him a smile, "I watched as she opened up to you, as she got comfortable here in our home and watched as she slowly made her way into your heart, and into mine. Yet she also had a secret of her own, one similar to yours and just imagining what she went through before she came here, and what she went through after she came here- she won't be the same girl sweetheart, but those eyes will be the same as well as her feelings for you."
"How can you be so sure about that?" Peter tenderly questioned.
May chuckled softly, "I lost your parents, and I lost your Uncle Ben. Loss isn't easy. Especially if someone else caused the incident. Your uncle was murdered, and there was this anger I felt. A part of me wanted to go out and find him, make him pay somehow even though I realistically knew I couldn't. Everyone reacts differently, but being constant in her life even if she pushes you away, it won't be something she won't notice. Reminding her of the life she had before, it can help but don't push her. Let her come back here when she's ready. Just be there. Be her rock."
Peter understood in parts what May was saying, but there was a part of him that knew somehow it was going to be a rocky road. He didn't understand the anger of loss, not on the level Marinette knew it. It was one trauma after another. He did remember the anger when she first was taken, he wanted to find her and make the person pay too.
"If you had an enemy that threatened the ones you love, would you go back home or would to ensure they never hurt your loved ones again?
The question she had asked him, it struck him somewhere deep in his core because it was a valid question he would have to ask himself eventually. If someone like Lucas threatened Marinette, or May, or even Tony then the answer was simple- he would make sure the threat would never make contact with them. It seemed hypocritical but he would make sure no one hurt those he loved and maybe that even meant taking the person out permanently.
"Go take a shower." May tells him, patting his back, "It might help ease your mind a little bit."
The whole tower wasn't sure really what to expect when Marinette stepped foot back into the building. As much as Chloe wanted to believe that she knew and understood Marinette, the same with Adrien and the others, the truth was they didn't. They couldn't say they understood what she had been through and how she was feeling. They could only really try to place themselves into her shoes and imagine what it felt like to lose the equivalent of everything. The only one who was still upset was Plagg, and no matter what the other kwami's and holders did, Plagg wouldn't settle.
Thus they waited as the hours dragged on, knowing that Marinette and Yelena were safe on Tony's private jet and on their way back here. Chloe wanted to understand her friend, but at the same time she could never imagine taking the life of her enemy. It would be saying they should have taken out Gabriel, Natalie, and her own father. Chloe couldn't even stomach the idea. Maybe Marinette had truly reached her breaking point, and if she did hopefully it wasn't beyond the point of return.
Chloe's attention was redirected when Kagami came into the room, but that wasn't what caught her attention. It was the small octagon box in her hands that was all too familiar. Her blue eyes glanced up, confirming that Longg was still next to Kagami. A part of Chloe already knew, but she had to ask.
"Is that Sass?" Chloe questions, earning a nod from Kagami.
"I thought Luka needed some time alone since the other day he wasn't in the mood to talk. I left him alone thinking he needed time to calm and recollect himself, and so I was going back to tell him she was coming back today so he at least knew." Kagami glanced down at the box, "His things are gone, and he left Sass here. This wasn't a life he wanted, and I don't blame him."
"He had every right to chose to leave." Adrien says, having been in the room already. "Just like you do too."
Kagami frowned, and then let out a small laugh, "I used to be envious of Marinette. How people used to flock to her sides or of her friends. The freedom she had, but it was all a lie. She had been suffering her own demons and had eventually would have been here. She's suffered, she's lost a lot and seeing that I don't know if I can live with anything happening to my mom or anyone of you."
"You have a choice, just like Luka." The voice surprised them, causing all three to turn and face Marinette who stood there in the door way looking as if she had been through hell and back in the eyes. Her hair was longer, tied up into a high pony tail. She was skinny, skinnier than the last they seen her. "I never wanted to drag anyone into my mess, but the sad truth is that is it was bound to happen to me. You guys didn't need to be part of it, but kwami's or not you would have been targets just for knowing me. It's how Peter and his aunt became targets."
"Marinette." Chloe rushed, pulling the girl into a bone crushing hug.
Hesitantly, Marinette wrapped her arms around the blonde.m "Hi Bee." She muttered softly, before her arms tightened around Chloe as if she really realized this was real.
Releasing Chloe, Marinette refocused on Kagami. "I understand if Luka felt like I uprooted his life, if you all felt that way but there is no way you are obligated to be heroes. The kwami's are yours, that's what it means to be a true holder. It doesn't mean you need to be a hero or be here, but if you choose to have the kwamis then I will be part of your lives to check in on them and you. That is my duty as guardian, to make sure the holders and kwami's are safe and not being misused."
"Yet you were misused." Kagami retorts back, and Marinette can sense anger. She had no doubt is was because of Luka deciding to leave, which hurt Marinette's heart but not much. Not much could really hurt anymore, not when it was already broken. "How can we trust you, are so called Guardian."
A bitter smile was now on Marinette's lips, "I never stopped thinking about the best for your well beings. Yes I could have broken out, but had I done so what would have stopped him from going after you or your families? He killed mine to rub it in my face, you would have been no different. If you truly want nothing to do with me, then Longg would need to stay because Longg is a kwami and it is my duty to protect him. You and the others by extension."
"So what, we're just people to you?" Kagami raised her eyebrows.
"Of course not." Marinette shook her head, "I can't maintain a normal life anymore, not in the same way you and Luka can. I'm in too deep in this world, there is no normalcy for me anymore. I am not going to force you to be heroes or fighters when you want nothing to do with this life. It's a life I don't want for myself, much less for someone else. I understand if you want to leave, I'm not stopping you."
"We helped bring down Hawkmoth." Kagami reminded, "When you weren't there, we helped bring him down."
It seemed like she was somehow trying to rub it in Marinette's face, yet Marinette's blue eyes reminded emotionless, "Yes, and I handed over all my evidence to Tony who I heard helped track him down. By the time he found Hawkmoth, I was tied in a chair being tortured. Sorry I couldn't make it with Tikki."
There was a tense silence, and Marinette realized that she was tense for no reason with sarcasm dripping from her voice. These were her friends, but weirdly enough they felt like strangers a little bit. Familiar yet not. It was silly to even think that because she knew Adrien, she knew Chloe and she knew Kagami. There was a point in time where she would have trusted them with her life, and now she wasn't sure who to trust. Not when Luka left, not when Kagami stood there with anger in her eyes. Not when Chloe looked at her unsure and Adrien kept his distance. She decided she didn't like those looks at all.
"I didn't mean it like that." Marinette says softly, trying to will herself to relax her shoulders. She knew it wasn't their fault, it wasn't something to be angry at them about but the thing was she was angry. A part of her wanted to point out that Chloe and Adrien were the ones who lost their parents. Besides those two, Kagami and the others never knew what it meant to sacrifice their lives for the sake of the city. Not like her and Adrien, but she left Paris. She left Paris to come to New York because it was too much, and now she would trade it. New York had become a worse situation, and yes it was good at first- amazing even but now, now she wasn't sure.
"I would have never given out the kwamis had I known this is where it would lead too." Marinette admits softly, "No one knows more than me how it feels to uproot your life for this life," She waved her hands around the room, "And I would have never asked you to take the kwamis if I knew what I did now. The choice is for everyone to make, you and Chloe both included Adrien. Even Alya and Nino. If you want to leave, I won't stop you but there's a risk Lucas might go after you because of me."
"The world doesn't revolve around you Marinette." Kagami seemed to have reached the end of her patience. "Our choices aren't because of you but we are here because of you. Luka loved you, and you threw it aside. He was there in Paris with you, and you pushed him away and came here to America. You fell in love with someone else and it broke his heart."
"Kagami." Adrien shook his head, Plagg had said not to anger Marinette right away.
Marinette's lips went into a thin line as Kagami threw that in her face, and she had to keep the bubbling anger at bay. "What right do you have, honestly? You don't understand me, you never have. If it wasn't Adrien, it was Luka... you love Luka don't you?" It dawned on Marinette then, and she let out a small laugh of disbelief.
"You think it's funny?"
"Of course not." Marinette nearly hissed, "You think I expected to meet Peter and fall in love with him? He was like a breath of fresh air to me. I didn't need to pretend I was okay for once because he made me feel safe. Paris never did. Not since I became Ladybug. Luka was a dear friend, and yes I care deeply for him but there was just something about Luka that I couldn't find that I found in Peter. I can't explain it to you or anyone, and I don't need too. But you're right, the world doesn't revolve around me. I don't need you here, I didn't want to even be here!"
"No you wanted to go kill a man." Kagami retorted. "Like that is really any better."
"He killed my parents Kagami." Marinette muttered lowly. "You've all killed people when you were akumatized. You don't remember because my cure cleaned the mess up, and erased the memories from everyone besides me. I got to burden the memories of each akuma attack. When you got akumatized, or the time Chloe did. Even Nino, Alya and Luka. Hell, even Adrien. You think fighting an akumatized Chat Noir was fun?"
"What?" Adrien asked, "When did this happen?"
"I have seen Paris fall many times and sometimes I didn't think I would save anyone, let alone everyone." Marinette took a step forward towards Kagami, "It's a feeling I wouldn't wish on anyone, so if you want to leave then the door is right there. You can follow Luka."
Kagami stared Marinette down, "What happened to you? I know you lost a lot, but this isn't the Marinette we knew. "
"I stopped hesitating." Marinette cooly replied back, "I mean it Kagami, if you hate me this much and want to live your life, then go."
"You think I honestly hate you?" Kagami shook her head, "Marinette, I'm worried about you. Before you would have gone after Luka and made sure he was okay-"
"He hasn't even spoken to me since he was akumatized that day." Marinette cuts her off, "He doesn't want to be around me, he left. He hates me, and I don't blame him. I wasn't there to help in Paris, I pushed my responsibility onto Chloe and abandoned Adrien as his partner. I'm sorry for that, and I'm sorry I dragged you into this. But I mean it, you don't need to stay here for my sake. I'm done asking for help and I'm done arguing."
Plagg flew out of Adrien's pocket, flying right into Marinette's face. The young Guardian didn't even blink as she looked at the kwami of destruction. Adrien only watched as the two stared each other down, and even then Adrien could feel the disappointment going through his kwami. Yet Plagg knew this anger, it was the chaos that swirled inside Marinette that wanted out. She wasn't even aware of it being the main cause of this anger.
"I don't even recognize you right now." Plagg says to her, looking deep into her blue eyes that were skillfully void of showing him emotions. "You would never argue like this before with anyone or tell someone to leave. You aren't okay Marinette."
"I never said I was okay." Marinette replies calmly, "I cried too much already, but as much as I can sit here and dwell on everything I could be finding Lucas and making sure he doesn't hurt anyone else Plagg. He's the reason Tikki is gone."
"Tikki wouldn't want this for you. I can feel a darkness in your heart, you kill Lucas then you set your path. There's no coming back from that." Plagg tells her, trying to make her understand somehow she can't go through with this plan. "You kill him, you become something else entirely."
"What's the difference?" Marinette asks him softly, "What's the difference in killing those innocent people who did nothing to me than killing him? I threw people out the window down to their deaths. I caused fire and building destruction. I took them from their families. What if I'm already becoming what you don't want me to be?"
"Because this is out of anger." Plagg tell her, "This is vengeance, and it is not pretty. You have a power now, a power that was only a story to be told. You don't understand the power you possess, what you can do with it."
Marinette's lips curled into a sadistic smile, and it sent shivers to Chloe's and Adrien's cores. "This whole time I was told I was meant for great things, is this what it was? It's anything but great."
"Don't kill him." Plagg bluntly ignored the question and comment. "Don't become as low as him. Would Tikki truly want that for you, Bug? Your parents? Master Fu? You were given a great responsibility, you are supposed to be a protector. Not someone who hurts others. I know you don't feel like a hero anymore, and it's gonna take some time for you to regain your footing. Right now you are tearing apart your own team when you need to be mending it. The kwami's are never out like this, not with this many true holders so yes, they are supposed to be here. Including Luka. So you need to snap out of whatever it is going on in that head of yours and be the leader I know you are. You lead them into this life yes, but it was bound to happen."
"What if I can't do that anymore?" Marinette whispers, and her shoulders finally relax as she stared with mixed emotions at Plagg.
Plagg sighed softly, "Tikki always told me one thing, and I never understood it until now. You have to let something die so that others might live. I realize that no it doesn't mean Lucas , but Tikki was always talking about her destiny and yours. We have live many centuries as kwamis, I watched many holders lose everyone they love eventually. But bug, you may have lost your parents but you never lost your whole family. Not truly."
Marinette didn't even realize she was crying until a tear slipped from her eyes and she reached up to tentatively touch her cheek, but it was Adrien who wiped her tear from her cheek. She looked up into his green eyes, those damn warm green eyes of her partner that melted her worries away like they always did in Paris. Yet it seemed worlds way from the days they ran across Paris's rooftops, and his stupid puns. Oh how she missed those damn wrong timed puns.
"We are your family Mari." Adrien whispers softly, "Even Luka. We care about you and would never leave you to face this alone. We all made mistakes, still do, but we are learning constantly. You need to stop shutting us out, you already did that once and it sucked. Luka will come around, Kagami was just upset because we didn't understand why you changed. The truth was that we weren't ready to accept you changed into someone we didn't understand anymore. Yet we could never realistically expect you to actually be the same. You've gone through more than we can ever imagine, so please help us understand. Let me understand what it is you went through. Even in Paris. Let me back in."
Marinette's eyes just grew with tears that threatened to fall at the sincerity in his voice, and Adrien will never know or understand why but he placed his forehead on Marinette's. His own eyes were closed, listening to the quiet hitches in her breath of Marinette as she breathed. Closing her eyes, Marinette tried to calm herself down but there was something about what he was asking her to do that she complied. A soft golden glow lit in the room, and before Plagg could even react Adrien was stumbling back with wide eyes.
"What did you do?" Chloe muttered, kneeling next to Adrien who was breathing heavy.
Yet Marinette didn't answer, her eyes slowly open with that same golden hue and kept her eyes locked with Adrien. Adrien on the other hand was sitting up, muttering to both Chloe and Kagami that he was okay despite the tears in his own eyes and the ache in his chest. The golden hue resided back into Marinette's normal blue.
"Little kitty on a roof...all alone without his lady."
"Now that you're back and now that you're going to...give me your miraculous!"
"NOW YOU'RE BREAKING MORE THAN MY HEART, MARINETTE!"
"Give me your Miraculous so I can make everything go back to the way it was! MEGA-CATACLYSM!"
"Things were PURR-FECT until Hawk Moth found out about everything. Once the cat is out of the bag, it's only a matter of time 'till everyone knows. It was our love that did this to the world, m'lady."
"I didn't mean to. Why won't you try and help me fix it?! The simple truth is you don't love me anymore! So I might as well destroy YOU, ME, OUR MEMORIES... EVERYTHING!"
"I have some bad news for you unfortunately. There was a gas leak last night in your parent's bakery that was reported last night when they didn't open for regular business hours the past few days. Upon a wellness check from the fire department, I am sorry to inform you that your parents were found deceased by carbon monoxide poisoning in their sleep."
"No one ever is ever truly ready to say goodbye. There was once someone who told me that we don't get to chose our time. Death is what gives life meaning. To know your days are numbered, that your time is short."
"Chat Noir and I are a team. If you take me on, you take Chat Noir on too."
"Unstoppable."
"We can do this. You have to trust me."
"Nobody can know who we are, not even us."
"Let's go back to what's always worked, a duo. It's you and me against the world M'lady."
"I don't know if I can do this. I can't imagine being Ladybug without him."
"Sound's like both you and I need cheering up tonight."
"I respect you, and sometimes I can get jealous of you. You're the girl everyone likes, and your parents are welcoming. A lot more than my own, and that life full of love and attention- I wish I had it sometimes."
"Go to New York with my mom, Mari."
"I believe you're capable of learning the mystic arts and all that it has to offer, and that it will help you become a greater Guardian of the Miraculous in the future. Perhaps even the best one yet."
"Be happy, sweetheart. All I want is your happiness."
"Aunt May would kill me if she found out I let a girl walk around lost. Especially someone from somewhere cool like Paris. I'm Peter Parker, by the way!"
"You're younger than what I was expecting for a Guardian of the Miraculous."
"I wasn't expecting a wizard to greet me either but here we are."
"There is a lot that Marinette is still learning as a Guardian in training. Master Fu hasn't told her about the Infinity Stones yet."
"You're so cute! Just like Peter mentioned!"
"Peter interns for Tony Stark- but more for the science aspect than fashion."
"You'll always have me mmm-Marinette."
"Who's Peter?"
"Who is he too you Mari?"
"You deserve to be happy, and you weren't happy here in Paris anymore. Not truly. You perfected the smile and the I'm fine's. I saw the signs, and now I can relax in knowing you're healing. You're okay and safe and have someone there for you who cares about you. You're an extraordinary young woman Marinette, you just need to believe in your abilities more."
"Want to help me build a lego Star Wars ships?"
"You like to make things, don't you?"
"Make things and building things are two different things dork. I usually sew and draw, not create lego sets."
"You can stay over one of these nights so we can watch them all. May won't mind, and you'll have access to limitless caffeine."
"Maybe there's more for you here in New York than Paris."
"I was having a hard time deciding what movie and so I called MJ and she said that you would probably like the movie, and it was something you might not have seen in Paris. It's an American classic."
"You won't ever be alone or left behind. Not while I'm around, I'm here to stay."
"I don't even have a home Peter. I lost my home the moment my parents died."
"I love you, and you could never be a burden Mari."
"I'm going to die here."
"You'll never truly lose me Marinette. You'll never truly be alone, trust me on that. Open your heart and mind again. Don't be afraid to trust. You were destined for so much more than Paris, more than being just my Ladybug. Each miraculous you have chosen and picked for other true holders, they are equivalent to the Infinity Stones. This is why this secret is so secret. The moment you put my earrings on first Marinette, you were chosen for this path. Everything was always leading down this road. I do not make you a hero, you are a hero naturally. You are the best Ladybug in this world I have ever had, and this is all part of the journey."
"I do not know the effect this will have on you with learning other magic ways from Stephen, but I know you will do right by this world."
And who's coming to get you? Tikki preformed a sacred and forbidden spell on you. She merged with you, Marinette. Do you understand what that makes you?"
"You are brimming with a magic power you can't control, Marinette. I know you feel it. You are not going anywhere I will not allow you to go. Tikki did exactly what we were hoping for. You are no longer Ladybug, and you never will be again."
"You're insane."
"I can easily kill Peter and May Parker then. We looked into you Marinette. Your phone contacts has you tied with some interesting people, but those two seemed the most important to you as of now. Perhaps the only people you truly have left. Are you willing to lose them?"
"You wouldn't-"
"I would. After all, I took out your parents. You will listen to me, follow my every order or I will kill Peter and his aunt first and go down the very short list of people you still have. Which isn't a big number anymore is it?"
"She showed me." Adrien answered Chloe slowly, "She showed me somehow what she went through and what she's seen. Bits and pieces but it was enough."
Adrien felt the emotions through the flashes he saw. The raw ache in her chest that was filled with sadness, anger, love and hope. He understood the loss, and he understood the anger. He felt the pain she went through emotionally and physically. His green eyes found hers with tears now free falling as he rushed at her, gripping her in a bone crushing hug. The emotions she kept in all those years, he felt in his very veins. He couldn't help but bury his face into her hair, muttering how he was sorry.
Chloe and Kagami could only watch as Marinette truly accepted Adrien, her arms wrapping around him tightly as if he was her life saver in a waves threatening to drown her. Adrien was muttering into her ear, they couldn't hear but whatever it was he was saying only caused Marinette to hold onto him tighter. She held onto him like she was scare he would disappear if she let go.
"An ability Marinette more than likely has is getting into people's head. She probably didn't even notice, but she shared the moments that changed her life the most." Plagg says softly, feeling the sorrow of Marinette through Adrien and it calmed his own anger.
"I'm sorry." Marinette whined, looking up at Adrien with the warm blue eyes he knew. "I'm sorry for everything." She looked at Kagami and Chloe, then at Plagg. "I'm sorry I've been shitty and acting like my life has been the worse than anyone else. I'm sorry I was a horrible leader in Paris, I should have stayed and had more faith in you all." In a even softer tone Marinette uttered, "But I'm not sorry I came to New York."
Adrien remembered feeling the warmth Marinette felt when Peter flashed across those memories. The girl who was hugging him tightly, the truth was he loved her. He always had and probably always will. He loved her deeply and truly for both Marinette and Ladybug. She was compassionate, and loving but she could also be a badass. Yet he saw those Chat Blanc memories, felt the loss she felt at the idea of losing him and the fear. He couldn't hurt her, and he couldn't stand in her way of the happiness she found here in New York. He could remain her partner, and best friend though. That would have to be enough. Adrien couldn't even be mad, he spent time with Peter and was sure if he was Marinette he would have fallen in love with him too.
"I love him." Marinette admits out loud for the first time, letting go of Adrien and wiping at her eyes. "I love Peter, Kagami and I'm sorry. I'm fucking sorry that hurts Luka, but Peter..." Kagami watched as she tried to find the words to describe what she felt, "He's like a warm blanket on a winter day by the fire. He makes me feel safe, and warm and happy. I will always care about Luka, and I will forever be appreciative of his friendship but I love Peter."
Kagami looked at Marinette, who stood there with those blue eyes that were so sure. It reminded her of the true Ladybug Marinette was, is. For the first time since she walked back into the tower, the wild fire anger in those eyes subsided and this was the Marinette they knew. Not the one driven by her darker emotions. Kagami couldn't help but let her own anger fade, a twitch of her lips into a smile seeing that Marinette truly stopped hesitating for what she wanted.
"I love you too."
Chloe watched as Marinette stilled, saw the raw panic in her eyes and couldn't help the small laugh that threatened to leave her lips. Despite everything, Marinette would always be Marinette deep down. Yet Chloe continued to watch as Marinette slowly turned around towards Peter, who stood at the doorway with Tony and Natasha.
Seeing him standing right there, it bought all the emotions she was scared of. The longing, how much she missed him- she felt it just as much as she felt her heart doing flips meeting his eyes with her own. Marinette didn't even register she was moving until she collided into Peter, throwing her arms around his neck and legs around his waist. Her lips crashed against his in a way she never kissed him before, longingly. Yet before he could kiss her, Marinette's face was buried in his neck.
"I'm sorry." She breathlessly whispered and repeated, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
Peter's arms were wrapped tightly around her, ignoring the eyebrow wiggle of Tony and the looks of the others in the room. He could only focus on Marinette being back in his arms, how light she felt now that before. He focused on how her chapped lips felt against his, and the breath that tickled his neck. He was focused mostly on how now he felt complete again with her by his side.
"You have nothing to say sorry for Mari." Peter carefully put her down, raising her chin to look him in the eyes.
"I was stupid." Marinette says softly, "I don't know what I was thinking, not thinking at all really-"
"You have every right to be angry." Peter tells her, "But I'm happy you came back."
Marinette offered him a small smile, "I had to come home eventually."
Tony was the one ready to cough into his hands, but a small black kwami made a gaging noise from somewhere in the room and beat him to the punch. "You two are worse than a lifetime movie."
Chloe shook her head, "You've spent too much time watching American TV."
"All I can do with Adrien being a scientist." Plagg retorted.
Marinette could say, that despite everything that's happened and what's she's said and done, that in this moment she felt a little lighter. With her hand in Peter's, looking at her friend's bicker and Tony looking over everything that right now in this moment everything was okay. She was just a little bit lighter, not completely okay but she was believing for the first time that maybe there was a light at the end of this tunnel.
I honestly really liked writing this chapter, and the song I listened to "To Build A Home" was a big part of my influence while I wrote.
As always, thank you for the support on the story! I'm just glad I can update more frequently! I really hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Next chapter will have more Peter and Marinette
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