Chloé throwing an 'end of exams' pool party for the class was a shock. An even bigger shock was that it wasn't because of an ultimatum thrown by Adrien at the risk of losing their friendship. But he wasn't going to complain about her throwing this party because she wanted to. He was overjoyed that his oldest friend seemed to be trying to make amends with her classmates. She had even stopped belittling Marinette, and stopped telling Sabrina to do her schoolwork. Granted it is expected of you not to belittle your peers, and flat-out against the rules to have someone do your work, but Adrien was still happy at her apparent decision to over a new leaf.
He was even happier that his father had allowed him to attend such a party considering that it was Chloé Bourgeois throwing the party.
And to top it all off, Lila was 'off to Achu to discuss with Prince Ali their next charity event to combat climate change'. Does Prince Ali even do work on climate change?
It truly was shaping up to be an amazing party and exactly what he needed, some time to spend at the pool with his friends away from people nagging at him about his schedule or Lila sinking her claws into Adrien's arm, seriously that girl had a strong grip, and somehow getting herself on couples shoots with him.
Just an afternoon with some of his favorite people in the world to simply de-stress, and have fun.
Adrien was more than willing to offer a ride for Nino, Alya, and Marinette to Le Grand Paris. It was fun to see Nino go wide-eyed, looking around the limo talking about how fancy everything was, and how he couldn't believe that this was just 'normal' for Adrien.
"Dude, feel this leather, it's softer than that hat Marinette made for me."
"Dude, lay back in these seats, it's more comfortable than my own bed."
"Dude, look at this console… THE BACKSEATS ARE HEATED!"
Adrien could only chuckle as Nino raved on about the limo.
They pulled up at the bakery to see Marinette and Alya walking out in their coverups, and waving behind them at Marinette's parents, as they ran up to the limo and hopped in.
It was fun to see the girls gawk at the car. They quickly joined along with Nino as they pointed out little things that he didn't realize weren't normal, like the cooler in the car, or the hidden compartments hidden in the doors and under the seats, or even the skylight in the back. He was elated to have an afternoon full of this, having fun and joking around with friends, without having to worry about his modeling or his schooling obligations or, as much as he loved it, hero duties. Just an evening of fun and relaxation.
While heading up to the rooftop deck with the pool, him and Nino chatted about their summer plans while Alya and Marinette were just up ahead whispering among each other with Alya laughing and Marinette peeking back at him, face flushed.
Once they got up on the rooftop and stepped off the elevator, they got to see what all Chloé, or rather Jean Marc, set up. There were streamers with balloons attached along the rails, along with a bar set up, adorned with cans of pop and bottles of beverages, with a full display of delicacies. It held everything, from finger sandwiches, to Pain Au Chocolat, his personal favorite. A full DJ stand was set up on the opposite side of the room, ready for Nino to start.
Marinette and Alya immediately took off their cover-ups to go jump in the pool, showing Alya in her orange bandeau-style two piece, and Marinette in her white halter top bikini, when something on Marinette's back caught his attention,
Scars.
Lots of scars.
Running along her lower back. All the kind he was familiar with. These were battle scars.
The kind reminding him of his scars that were leftover from some particularly dreadful Akuma Attacks when they got thrown into walls and rubble,and Ladybug's cure hadn't completely healed them, instead left some pretty nasty scars in their place.
Hell, he even had some from an unpleasant Akuma Attack a couple of days ago that left him and Ladybug pretty banged up.
And they looked exactly like the ones on her back.
The scars he had would eventually fade, with the help of some magic topical medicine recipe from the Gaurdian's book, but even with that, it still took a few days to fully heal, and he got to see exactly what scars from getting thrown into walls and hit with rocks and rubble looked like. And it looked exactly like the scars on Marinette.
But, how did Marinette get these kinds of scars?
How did Marinette get the same kind of scars he got from battling akumas living a normal life?
Then, a theory came to mind for the scars. A theory that made his fists tighten and his body tense in anger.
Was someone hurting Marinette?
Was someone hurting sweet, innocent, kind to every person with a beating heart, Marinette?
Was someone abusing Marinette?
His jaw tightened, at the thought of someone hurting Marinette.
He knew Marinette and her parents had a wonderful relationship.
Was it a façade?
He knew Marinette and Luka had kind of seemed like they had an interest in each other and they had hung out alone before.
Was Luka hurting her when no one was around?
But if someone was hurting Marinette, why hadn't she told somebody? Why hadn't she given any sign that she was in pain? Why did she not come to him about somebody hurting her?
But, then it hit him.
This was Marinette.
The girl who tried her hardest to be of the least possible trouble.
Who tried to do everything on her own so that she wouldn't be an inconvenience.
This is the girl who put other people's problems before her own without giving it a second thought.
This is the kind of girl who wouldn't come to anyone about being abused because she believed that they wouldn't care, or just think of her as an inconvenience.
He had heard from others how abusers could manipulate their victims into believing such things. That no one would care, and no one would believe them. He had seen people come out about abuse from employers in modeling, only for them to be paid off, or blacklisted, or had them be ruined in retaliation.
But Marinette wasn't one of these people, if someone if she said anything he wou-
He felt something lightly jabbing into his side.
He snapped out of his thoughts and looked around to see it was Nino hitting his elbow into his ribs.
"Hey dude, what's up?"
"Nothing... why?"
" Well, you have stared at Marinette for the past hour." Nino retorted with a smirk on his face.
"What?!"
Had it been an hour?
"Yeah dude, I've been dragging you around with me but your eyes are always locked on her."
Shit.
"Oh, uh-... they have? I'm just out of it today, I didn't get much sleep, and what I got wasn't very good."
Not entirely a lie.
He had been on patrol with Ladybug until two o'clock last night so he didn't get much sleep, but that was not why he was out of it.
He was out of it because Marinette had scars. Bad kind of scars. And he was going to find out and stop whatever was causing them.
He returned his gaze to Marinette, sitting at the edge of the pool hunched over, with her back facing towards him, and talking to Alya who was floating around in the pool in front of her. He had a full view of the scars of her back and it made him sick seeing them, but he couldn't make himself look away and try to pretend that they weren't there. Because they were, they were there, and even when he could make himself look away he still saw them. He still saw them in his head. Keeping her scars always in his main focus.
" You know, Marinette is a really nice girl…" Nino stated in a smooth, almost insinuating tone, putting emphasis on the 'is'.
"Yeah Nino she is a very good friend of mine, and one of my best friends." Adrien gave in a 'this is obvious' tone.
"Ok dude, whatever you say." Nino sighed with a smirk.
"I think I need to sit down in the shade." Adrien said, fanning his hand at his face, trying to change the subject.
"You have the right idea, come on, I've got a playlist setup and there are a couple open chaise lounges by the girls!"
"Wait!, why don't we go by the bar and sit there?" He couldn't possibly face Marinette. He couldn't sit by her or talk to her like everything was normal when he could see someone was clearly hurting her. He couldn't sit there and smile and laugh.
But it was too late, Nino already waved at the girls and caught Alya's attention. Her waving back.
"Girl, Adrien has been staring at you the ENTIRE time we've been here!" Alya exclaimed in a whisper-scream tone with her teeth closed as to make an effort to keep this conversation private, but failing miserably as they saw Rose and Juleka glance over before turning back to their conversation on the deck chairs.
"Alya, hush. People can hear you!" Marinette replied in a hushed manner, hiding her blush with a face that showed embarrassment.
"M, please EVERYONE knows that you and sunshine are made for each other, and this is your chance! Get up! Go talk to him! Maybe he is finally realizing how perfect you all are for each other!" Alya exclaimed with violent hand gestures pointed towards Marinette infront of her and Adrien just behind her.
"I really don't think so Alya. Him and Kagami have kind of been talking, and I know Kagami likes him." She replied, looking away with a dejected look.
" BUT, Adrien hasn't said that he likes Kagami, and they aren't a couple." Alya rebutled, with a smartass smirk
"Alya, Adrien doesn't like me like that. When people have brought up our relationship he has called me, quote,'a very good friend'." Marinette drawled.
"And that is a good place to start! You just need to approach him, not freak out, and get him to notice you. You always stutter when you talk directly to him, to the point that he doesn't get to talk to the amazing girl underneath the nervousness. So here is your chance!" She countered grabbing and shaking her shoulders.
"Alya, I really don't think this is the right time to confess to Adrien, we are just here at a party with a bunch of friends and I really just want to relax and hang out and NOT worry about talking to Adrien." Alya glanced behind Marinette waving with a cheshire-cat smile.
"Well too late!, because him and Nino are coming over here."
"What!"
Adrien's mind was running a mile a minute trying to figure out how to confront Marinette about her scars. And her sitting right in front of him by the pool, while he sat on a lounge chair, continuing to give him a perfect view of the scars, was only making it ten times harder.
Because he had to make sure whatever caused them would never cause her, or anyone, to have scars like that again.
Should I speak up and ask her now?
No, asking her in public might make her panic if everyone, including Nino and Alya, could hear her.
Should I wait till Monday, at school, to ask?
No that could give, whatever or whoever was causing the scars, another opportunity to hurt her.
Maybe confronting her in private after the party?
That certainly did sound like the best option. Pulling her away after the party, possibly into a secluded hallway, or an empty hotel room, would probably be the best way to face her in the most private and comfortable way possible, and as soon as possible.
He just had to wait.
He had to wait.
Adrien was taught by his mother to be patient. And he always listened to her. He understood that it was better to wait for the right time, rather than for the soonest. It was better to get it done correctly the first time, rather than try to get it done as soon as possible and half-do it, and to always allow others the same courtesy. His father always taught him to get things done promptly, get them done the right way and get it done fast, but he always believed his mother's philosophy over his father's.
But this wasn't waiting for his food at a slow restaurant, or for a new episode of a show to come out, or even for his father to respond to a request for a meeting. No this was him waiting to see what was causing pain to, what he considered to be, one of his best friends.
It was soul-eating.
How was he supposed to relax knowing that something had hurt Marinette to the point of having scars? How was he supposed to relax not knowing what caused said scars?
Short answer: he wasn't.
The moment he saw those scars his day of relaxation was forgotten.
The end of the party couldn't come soon enough for Adrien. The majority of the class had left and it was nearing time for Nino, Alya, Marinette, and him to leave.
He had been staring at Marinette scars all day. And he really was trying to take his eyes off them. But no matter what his eyes would almost always lock on them again with the questions:
What caused those scars?
and,
Who caused those scars?
and,
How can I make sure she never gets scars like that again?
, swirling through his head without end. He really tried to focus on anything else, Nino talking about his music, or Alya talking about her current blog posts, or he even tried to just focus on the pool water moving itself, but his focus always returned to Marinette's back. He really could not get those scars out of his head. How was he supposed to? Was he supposed to just completely disregard the obvious gashes on her back.
"-rien, Adrien, ADRIEN." He was startled from his thoughts.
"Huh." He looked over to see it was Nino saying his name.
"We were called your name like 10 times, you have been out of it all day. What's up?" It was Nino. How was he supposed to explain? 'Oh, I was just looking at the obvious scars on Mari's back all day, no big deal,' What, NO, he'd sound like a freak! and he didn't want to bring up Marinette's scars that way.
"Uh-... like I said earlier, I didn't get any good sleep last night and have been super stressed with modeling lately." Adrien reasoned. He had gotten little sleep and he had been stressed lately so… not completely a lie?
"Really?" Nino questioned in a tone that said 'that's not the truth and I know it'.
"Yep Nino, just tired and stressed" He affirmed with his model smile.
"OK, if you say so." Popping the 'k'.
"Well anyways, your phone went off." Nino continued.
"Oh!" Adrien grabbed his phone to look at his text.
Le Gorille: Your car is here.
He forgot that it was time for him to leave.
Adrien: Thank you. We will be down shortly.
"Car's here." Adrien reported.
"Then let's grab our stuff and head out." Alya exclaimed to the group as she bounced out of the chaise lounge her and Nino were both sitting on, and motioned at all their stuff they needed to grab.
"Oh, and we need to stop by Chloé's Suite, to ask what her dad said about funding the school trip!" Alya shouted, remembering the super important question that they had to ask Chloé as Class Representative, and Deputy.
"Oh Alya your right I completely forgot about that!" Marinette face-palmed.
"Girl, don't worry, at least we remembered before we left!" Alya reached out, and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
" Let's go down and ask her before we forget again!"
The girls quickly grabbed all their belongings and jumped on the elevator, the boys rushing and trying to catch up to them.
The time was closing on him asking about the scars and he had to try to figure out how to pull her aside away to some privacy.
Adrien and Nino were standing outside Chloé's door, while Marinette and Alya were inside talking about the class trip when he heard the door open and turned his head to see Alya walking out shouting her thanks back to Chloé, with Marinette following her out behind. He saw them walk past heading for the elevator to go down and get in the car.
This was his last chance. If he didn't pull her aside now then he would never get the chance to tonight, and he needed to find out what or who caused those scars.
"Hey, Marinette!" Adrien yelled quickly jogging up to her, from where he was frozen by the door.
"Uh- yea- yeah Adrien." She responded in her usual stutter.
"Could I talk to you… privately?" He asked and saw her whip her head around and following her glance he saw where Nino and Alya stood, both had a shocked look on their face but Alya was looking like she was almost smiling.
Why was she smiling?
He noticed Marinette moving her head back around and she met his look. Her eyes were wide and unmoving, jaw slightly open, and they all just stood there, holding their positions for a few moments.
"For sure! Come on Nino we can go wait in the car until they're done, right?" Alya yelled back, breaking the silence, while grabbing Nino's wrist and breaking him out of his shocked state and dragging him towards the elevator doors.
"Right!" He yelled in response once he finally was out of his trance and quickly turning around to follow his girlfriend to the elevator and shut the elevator.
Good, he finally was with Marinette, away from prying ears.
He looked down from the elevator to see Marinette, her face a bright red and a smile on her face. He guided her into the nearest empty hotel room. He could finally confront her about what had worried him the past few hours.
'Did Adrien Agreste really just asked me to talk to him in private?!'
'Did he actually ask me that or am I hallucinating?'
Were the thoughts running through her head as she whipped her head around to see Alya and Nino were just as shocked as she was.
She turned back around to see Adrien returning her gaze with an almost pleading look on his face.
She wanted to answer but she couldn't move her mouth to say 'Yeah, sure Adrien, I'd love to talk in private.' All she could do was stare back at him with wide-eyes and mouth slightly ajar.
"For sure! Come on Nino we can go wait in the car until they're done, right?" Alya. Alya's voice was coming from behind her and snapping her out of her shock induced state.
She tried to conceal her giddy smile, but could barely contain it, as Adrien guided her into an empty hotel room to talk.
He turned back to her and walked behind her to close the door, before turning back around and meeting her gaze
"Marinette I wanted to ask you about…"
He looked away and pursed his lips.
Okay this was not exactly what she was expecting when Adrien asked her to talk to him in private. He seemed nervous, and it did not seem like the good kind of nervous.
He met her gaze again, and she could visually see him calming and composing himself.
He walked over to her and stopped about an arms length away before stepping back a few feet. With nervous eyes. He reached his right arm up and scratched the back of his neck, something he always did when he was nervous.
What was he so nervous for?
He composed himself for the second time and took a stance similar to his father's, but it was much more inviting, and a lot less cold coming from him.
"Marinette, I wanted to ask you about the scars on your back."
Shit.
He could see her eyes widening with a mix of fear and nerves, and her jaw clenching. It wasn't hard to see that she knew exactly what he was talking about. And he could see, she didn't know how to answer.
"Wha- What scars?" She stammered. Trying to mimic a confused look on her face but Adrien could see right through it
"The scars on your lower back, look I just wanted you to know…"
This is it. This is when I ask her.
This was harder than he thought. He didn't expect it to be hard to say this to her. He had been wanting to say this to her all day. It was the only thing he had been thinking about.
Then why was it this hard?
"... if someone is hitting you or abusing you, I will believe you." He said in the calmest, most reassuring voice he could muster, trying to hide the fear in his voice.
"OH No No No… no one has been hitting me… "
He could see her face she was thinking. Was Marinette going to lie? Was that a lie? Marinette who hates liars and lying? This was bad. If Marinette was lying, there was, without a doubt, something going on. Something she was hiding.
"I'm… I'm… I'm just… SUCH A KLUTZ!" She answered, her face turning from wide-eyed, to a huge smile that wasn't hard to tell was forced.
"You know me, just falling over wherever I go, they are from… me falling into furniture!, and from… aahhh… falling off my bed and hitting my desk! Yeah!, that's what they are from."
"Mari…"
He wanted to reach out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, he wanted to reach out and hug her and tell her tha it was ok and he would help her. She didn't have to lie about the scars. She didn't need to hide who or what caused them. But, he couldn't reach out and hug her, or comfort her, she needed to feel safe but, what if that made her uncomfortable?
He just wanted her to feel comfortable and safe. He wanted her to know that she could tell him anything and he would listen and believe her and help her.
It's all he wanted.
"... you can tell me anything, and I will believe, and I will help you." He reaffirmed. With a determined look on his face, but his eyes full of desperation. Desperation to know what was happening to his friend.
"Really Adrien…" Her voice was calm, and her facial features lost their tightness, but her eyes didn't, her eyes still held the same fear and nerves that they held when he initially asked the question.
"I'm ok. No one is hurting me." There it was again. She was lying. He didn't know how, but he just knew. He could tell she was lying.
She simply gave him a smile that didn't reach her eyes, and walked around him to the door, and opened it.
He turned around to see her back towards him, reaching down and clutching her side purse and quickly leaving the room.
None of this was right. But he knew one thing, Marinette was lying about the scars.
He didn't know who made the scars, or how they made the scars, or when they could have made those scars, or why someone would make her hurt like that, but when he did find that out,
They were going to answer to Chat Noir.
Notes:
That was my first fanfiction ever written. I'm new and I know I can improve. If you have criticisms please do say so in the comments, just please do so kindly.