I told you it would get worse. It will get better (eventually) but it isn't an easy process. I'm repeating my trigger warnings. There's a lot of heavy issues that Adrien has to unpack. Marinette is working on hers, but can't be the sole support for Adrien. Someone reaches a breaking point.
"Adrien, I'm sorry. I can't do this any longer. I can't be your only support. If you can't even try, then I'm done. I'm leaving." Tears were running down Marinette's face as she said the hardest words she'd ever uttered in her life. Five years before, she'd testified against her boyfriend's father as he was revealed to be Hawkmoth, the man who terrorized Paris, but this was worse.
Guilt swirled in her gut, leaving her insides feeling frozen, her heart splintering into a million pieces. Adrien shook his head at her. "You know how I feel about talking about this. I don't want people to hate me. I need you, Marinette. Please don't give up without trying. You work so hard at everything, why won't you work with me on this, on us? Doesn't our relationship matter to you?"
Marinette shook her head, the tears coming hard enough to blind her. "You mean so much to me, Adrien. You are my partner, my other half. I have been trying so hard for so long, giving so much. I'm exhausted." She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "I can't be your only support. We've talked about this, I've talked with Dr. Lapointe about this. If we keep going the way we're going, I'm going to start hating you, and I don't want to. You mean too much to me. Please consider therapy."
"You know I can't Marinette. Why are you pushing me to do something that you know I can't handle? It's like you're turning into my father." When Marinette flinched away from him, burying her stricken face against her knees, he backpedaled. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean that, but it's frustrating because you are being so selfish, making this all about you. When did you stop caring about us?"
He shook his head sadly, unable to understand why the woman he loved wouldn't take the time to look at things from his perspective. He loved her more than anything in this world. The time they spent apart while they were working dragged for him, feeling infinite, and moving so slowly, it was all he could do to keep himself there, counting down the minutes until he could see her again. He needed her like the air that he breathed, and she was throwing all that back in his face. He didn't need anyone else as long as she was near. Why couldn't he be enough for her?
He said the last thought out loud, telling her that she was all that he needed, and wishing that he could be enough for her. "I'm going to bed. Come and join me when you're ready." He hugged her sobbing form, and kissed the top of her head, before heading into their bedroom. He lay awake for a long time, listening to the gasping sobs coming from the living room, but he must have fallen asleep at some point because when he awoke, the clock read 3:42 am and the apartment was silent.
He got out of bed, looking for her, finding a note on their dining table. "I'm at the bakery, staying there tonight, I'll be working with my parents on a project tomorrow. I'm sorry." Adrien smiled fondly at the note, glad that she'd realized that she'd been wrong. It was just like Marinette to apologize as soon as she'd come to her senses. Feeling much better about the situation, he went back to bed, and slept peacefully for the next couple of hours until his alarm awakened him the next morning.
Adrien got up and dressed, much as he normally would, sad that Marinette wasn't there, but texting her continually throughout the morning. Showered and shaved, he headed to work excited for the baked goods that Marinette always brought home from her parents house, as well as getting to forgive her for their fight the night before.
Anytime they fought, Marinette would apologize to him. He'd always forgive her, and then they'd make up. This time wouldn't be any different. He left for work in a good mood, one that would be shattered when he returned home.
While he was at work, Marinette and her father slipped into the apartment and removed everything that belonged only to Marinette: her clothes, everything from her designer's corner, and the miracle box. Tikki, whom Marinette had confided in, had said her goodbyes to Plagg. The cat kwami knew that it was coming, and had been trying to talk to Adrien, but unfortunately, Adrien was no more willing to hear it from Plagg than he was from Marinette.
With a reluctant, and tearful farewell to the apartment and the life that it represented, Marinette dropped her keys through the mail slot. With her father's arm around her, she walked out into the early afternoon sun, although the warmth of the air was lost in the memory of a rainy day that brought so much happiness.
Tears slid down her cheeks as she buckled herself into the bakery van's passenger seat, becoming a deluge to rival that day the further they went from her life.
Marinette had confided in her parents, much as she'd been encouraged to do by her therapist. They had held her, and promised to be there for whatever she needed. When she'd come to them saying that she couldn't take it anymore, then he offered to drop everything and move her out at that moment. The unwavering support she received from her family was the only thing that kept her sane as she made the arrangements, slowly disentangling her life from Adrien's.
By the time her meager possessions were reinstalled in her room, Marinette's tears had run dry. She felt bereft, completely devoid of emotion, only a vague concern that she should be feeling more something invaded the numbness that paralyzed her. Although it was still only mid-afternoon, she curled up on her bed and slept more soundly than she had in months, unaware of the maelstrom she would awaken to in the morning.