A/N: Hey, fun fact, this chapter features Marinette being a bit too upset about everything and talking very specifically about how she'd like to kill herself. If that would bother you or cause you to do anything that would hurt yourself, please skip this chapter.

I love you all; please stay safe and enjoy the chapter.


Marinette hated rainy days. With one notable exception, they were all bad, and this day was turning out no differently. Absolutely nothing was going right. She'd gotten to school late after a terrible night's sleep, two akumas had attacked in six hours, and she'd missed her bus home because she was working late on pre-internship preparation. She sat outside in the rain, umbrellas forgotten. Without warning, Marinette started to cry.

Stupid. Idiot. Worthless, forgetful woman. Because watching the time or bringing an umbrella would've been too easy! Way to fucking go, moron.

She pressed the heel of her hand against her eyes, trying to rid them of excess moisture to no avail. Marinette started crying harder, hiccuping as she did.

I should just walk out in front of the bus. Then I wouldn't have to deal with any of this anymore.

A tune with a good beat started playing on her phone—Nino had insisted on making all of their ringtones, and Marinette had picked her favorite one for him out of gratitude.

"What do you want, Nino?" Her voice was sharp and quick.

"Easy, I was just calling to brag on Alya, but what's wrong?"

"Only everything! Nothing in this entire day has gone right!" Marinette sat for half a second on the wet bench, jumping up with a screech when she realized how much colder it would be than standing.

"Okay, let's calm down and talk about it for a minute. What happened?"

"I slept like shit, I got to school late, the akumas fucked up my study plans for our exams, and I forgot to watch the time at my internship, so now I'm stuck out in the rain until the next bus comes because I also decided that today would be an excellent day to forget an umbrella like the fucking genius I am!"

"That sounds awful, babe. I'm sorry you've had that kind of day."

"I just don't want to deal with it, Nino. I'm done. I'm beyond fucking done for today. I just want to be home and warm and asleep or to just curl up in the street or something that isn't this."

"Nettie, you're kinda freaking me out. Take a few deep breaths and think about this."

"I am thinking about this! And I don't want to do it anymore!"

Nino floundered for an answer. "Okay, hold on. You're waiting until the next bus, and you're getting on it and going home. I'm gonna call your parents when we hang up and talk to mine and see if I can't spend the night tonight. I'll make up some project or something. Then I'll see you either tonight or tomorrow at school, and we'll try and figure something out for you. How does that sound?"

Marinette contemplated his proposal for a moment. "Okay. That sounds fine."

"Alright. Worst case scenario, your parents will have warm food and dry clothes for you when you get home. I'll let you know what the plan is when I know."

"O-Okay. I'm sorry for putting this on you."

"Nettie, babe, you're more than fine. I want to do everything I can to help. I'm gonna hang up now and work on the plans. I hope your bus comes soon. I love you."

"I love you, too. Thank you. Oh, I think I see it! Finally!"

"That's great! I'll talk to you later. Have a good bus ride."

"Thanks. Bye." She hung up as the bus braked in front of her, thankful that it was at least dry.

Nino was already at her house when she got home and greeted her with a hug, wrapping her in a towel at the same time. "Hey."

"Hey." Marinette pulled the towel around her, wringing out her pigtails with a corner of it.

Nino settled himself back on the couch. "Your mom has some soup on the stove. She said that you should take a quick shower before you eat so you can warm up and stuff."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. Have you eaten yet?"

"I ate at home. Go get warm and take a shower, put on your jam-jams, and we'll talk while you eat. I'll still be here when you get done."

Marinette obeyed and sat on the couch next to Nino a little while later, resting her wet head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I blew up on you."

"It's okay. Some days are like that." Nino nestled his head against hers. "Here, eat." He picked up her bowl from the coffee table and handed it to her. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Marinette swallowed a bit of soup and answered him. "That's just it. What's there to talk about? I already yelled about all of it."

"Okay, fair, but sometimes talking about it when you're calm can help things, too."

"But I don't want to talk about it anymore." To prove her point, she kept eating.

Nino sighed. "I'm just worried about you, Nettie."

"I didn't ask you to be, but thanks, I guess."

"You can't pretend that you don't worry about us."

"Yeah, because those are things that require worrying about. Adrien doesn't eat enough when he gets busy or stressed, Alya runs into almost every akuma battle if she can help it—and she's getting better about it, finally, but still—and you won't take care of yourself half of the time and you literally tell none of us. Like, how am I supposed to feel like I'm the one who needs worried about when you guys all have stuff going on, too?"

"Because we're your friends, Marinette. Friends show concern for each other, especially when things aren't going well."

"But things are going well! I'm just having a bad reaction to it!"

Nino turned his whole body towards her, shaking her from her spot. "A bad reaction? Babe, you're admittedly suicida—"

She shoved a finger over his mouth. "Not so loud! That is not something my parents need to know!"

He took a slow breath. "Okay. Finish your soup, and we can talk more later when we're working on our fake project."

"Okay. Thank you."

Nino wrapped his arm around her and kissed her head. "Any time."


A/N: Well, lovelies, let me know what you think. I'm around if you need to talk to me about anything.

And, personal note, I finally have an appointment with a therapist next week. So, thanks for all of your support. It means the world to me.

-wwot