Day 8

Marinette rarely liked ripping pages out of notebooks, much preferring to keep everything together, but as she completed part of today's dare, she couldn't care less. She didn't even rip it cleanly, preferring to leave a jagged edge where she ripped out the page as a reminder of what exactly she ripped out.

She lit a candle then held the page that read "Adrien's Negative Attributes" over the flame. Fire licked the edge of the pink paper, catching hold of it before quickly eating it away. She had to be careful so as not to burn herself, but soon enough, the paper was nothing but ashes she swept up with her hand and tossed away.

She headed into the kitchen, hoping that she would see Adrien when he headed out.

Luckily, she did.

"Aren't your tryouts for the National team today?"

Adrien paused before he could take another step. "Uh… yeah," he said, his tone thankfully free of sass.

"Good luck today."

Adrien stared at her skeptically. "Thank you."

She gave him a smile that was mostly true. Facing him was hard, but like Tikki said, this wasn't going to work if she didn't put in the effort.

Adrien turned to leave after that, leaving Marinette alone in the kitchen. Her expression fell as she went back to finishing making her breakfast.

"If they don't give you the spot on the team, Adrien," Plagg commented when they were driving home, "they're terrible judges of fencing."

"What's going on with Marinette?"

Plagg hid his surprise with an impassive, "What do you mean?"

"She's being nice."

"She's your wife."

"She said she was done, and now she's all sweet-talking me? Telling me 'good luck' for tryouts she didn't even know about in the first place."

Plagg bristled at Adrien's tone. Apparently, it was too much to ask for him to take her kindness at face-value. "Maybe she realized it was a mistake to say that and is sorry about it."

"Then why didn't she just apologize?"

Kwamis have mercy, Plagg was going to beat Adrien over the head. "Would you have accepted it?"

That got Adrien to freeze.

"Maybe it wouldn't kill you to be nice in return instead of being all testy over her wishing you luck."

Adrien grunted, but Plagg knew he wasn't convinced. There was a long road ahead of Adrien, but the fact he had listened to Plagg at all was a start.

Day 9

Dear Diary,

Today's dare should have been simple. How hard could it be to tell Adrien "welcome home. I hope you had a good day."

The saying was easy. Keeping a smile was hard, especially when he looks at me like skeptically like that. It hurts because there's no breaking through this. He's set on thinking I'm the bad guy for some reason and I don't know why. What did I do that's so wrong? That I'm working to keep his father's company alive? That I've tried to talk to him but he never wants to open up. I'm not in the wrong here and I don't understand why I'm the one even caring about fixing this marriage when he's refusing to look at himself and think that maybe possibly he's the one in the wrong.

I'm just so tired and I fear for tomorrow.

Wish me luck.

Day 10

"Something's wrong," Kagami observed. "You've been very quiet. I know we haven't known each other long, but you do not strike me as the kind of person who is quiet and reserved all the time."

Adrien sighed. He and Kagami had gotten close surprisingly quickly. She was sharp, observant, and always willing to listen. "Let's just say I'm going through some relationship troubles."

"Ahh," she said, her tone even. "Is it a trouble that will pass, or is it a long-standing issue?"

"Long-standing," Adrien admitted.

"Then the problem needs to be addressed, and if it cannot be addressed yet is causing you stress, the only solution is to cut off the relationship."

Adrien looked at her, his eyes wide.

Kagami nodded. "You cannot let a bad relationship keep you locked into a bad position. That's setting you up for failure. You must cut off anyone toxic before it kills you."

Her words struck a chord in Adrien. But somehow, they didn't feel right. Marinette, toxic? Things with her were tense, yes. Unfixable, maybe. Toxic…

He supposed his father was, and Marinette was acting like his father.

"You don't believe her, do you?" Plagg asked once Kagami had left.

"I don't know. Maybe."

Plagg gave him a flat look. "Kid, I get what she's saying, and it's good advice, but do you really think that that advice pertains to your relationship with Marinette?"

That was all Adrien could think about the rest of the day.

Marinette was tired. Really tired. The day had been long and crappy.

But she had to do todays dare.

"Love is unconditional," she whispered to herself. "So I have to prove it somehow."

That "somehow" ended up being going grocery shopping so he didn't have to. And maybe a dark chocolate bar that he happened to like ended up in her cart. Dark chocolate was healthy. And she knew Adrien: if he was presented with a treat that he could justify in his diet, he'd take it.

She just finished putting the last of the groceries away when Adrien got home, take-out bag in hand. When he looked up and saw her, he froze.

She smiled like the smell of his dinner wasn't making her jealous. Like it didn't hurt that he very likely didn't get her anything or even think to ask. "Hey," she said. "And here I was just about to get started on dinner."

Adrien looked away from her at the bag. "We didn't have anything in the house."

"I went grocery shopping."

His full attention snapped back to her.

She shrugged. "I guess I'll just make myself something," she said, trying to find the quickest out in this conversation that she could. "Enjoy your meal." It was said without animosity, or at least she hoped so. Behind the refrigerator door, she bit her lip to stop the myriad of emotions bubbling up.

She heard him turn and march off. Probably to the master bedroom.

No longer hungry, Marinette headed back to her room, shutting the door before pulling out her diary.

Dear Diary,

Day 10 was a bust. As all the other days have been. It hurt that he brought home food for himself today after yelling at me last week about his diet. Honestly, it feels like he said that just so that he could spite me that day I brought home pastries for him. He's not responding to anything. It's like he really doesn't care.

I know I said I wanted to continue, but a couple days in and it's hard again for a whole other reason. This HURTS. If he's not going to respond, then what's the point.

"There's a girl Adrien works with," Plagg said. "And I don't like her."

"You've mentioned that."

"She point blank told Adrien to end the relationship with Marinette."

"What!"

"Shhhh!" Plagg grabbed Tikki and yanked her back down to their hiding spot in the kitchen. "Don't be so loud or Adrien's going to catch on that I'm talking to you."

"You're telling me there is a girl trying to convince Adrien to go through with divorce and you expect me to keep it down?" Tikki challenged.

"I'm trying to stop him from listening to her," Plagg said. "But the problem is that she's filling in for what Marinette isn't doing. Rather, what that idiot thinks she isn't doing."

"Ohhhhh," Tikki growled, her little clenched paws shaking. "I can't believe that woman."

"I'm doing all I can, Tikki, but Marinette has to step up and be here more so that maybe I can get it through his thick head that Marinette isn't the bad guy here."

"Don't blame my chosen like yours is perfect."

The silence that followed was an uncomfortable one.

"I'm sorry, Tikki," Plagg said, his ears falling. "I'm just worried for my chosen. He's not listening to sense."

"I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have snapped," Tikki said. "They're both equally hurt and I don't know what it's going to take for each to realize they aren't the only one suffering. I'm trying to hold out hope, but Marinette is fading quickly again and she's only a quarter of the way through."

With a sigh, Plagg grabbed Tikki's paws. "There's still time. We just keep working. We have to. These two cannot give up on each other yet."