Dabble in Drabbles 40: I Don't Like Like You

Heyy, another milestone for this DiD series! So, another Chloé/Nathanaël fic, shall we? And also, that thing Adrien mentions, let's just pretend it's the Redemption Arc that Chloé supposedly has before she gets her miraculous, ne?

Summary: He hated her. How could he not? She was mean, selfish, and arrogant. The question is: did she ever actually hate him?

He hated her.

That was a no-brainer. It was normal for people to hate Chloé Bourgeois. After the Evillustrator incident, that hate increased tenfold. How, he wondered, in this world could someone like Chloé exist: Mean, arrogant, vain, all of those in one whole package?

And yet, how could someone with an icy heart have such beautiful, clear blue eyes?

It was ridiculous. There was not a bone in her to feel sympathy or kindness. Nay, he was sure that she didn't even know the word 'nice' much less feel it.

So imagine his surprise as he saw her fly over Paris's sky one morning. Imagine his shock as she swooped down and save him just as the akuma villian was about to crush him underneath.

"Are you an idiot?!" The bee-themed superhero screeched as she sets him down, a little ways away from the battle. "Why didn't you run away?!"

Nathanaël stumbled around and glared at her. "I should say the same thing to you, Chloé."

Her eyes widened behind her mask. "How-"

"Don't think I didn't notice how you tried to suck up to everyone in the class." Nathanaël said. "I knew there was something weird going on when you started acting nice to everyone and sending all these little gifts and stuff. So it's this."

He gestured to all of her. "Thinking people will accept you now that you're a superhero. I won't be fooled. You're just mean and selfish. Not even a mask can cover that up."

He felt satisfied that all of that was now ridden off his chest. Yet when he looked at her, there was a flash of hurt in her eyes and in his heart. However, that was quickly replaced by the ever present cold look she was good at.

"Just stay here and don't get in the way." She snapped before zipping away to rejoin the group.

Nathanaël stood there, stunned. He thought she would deny what he said, lift her nose up in defiance, fight back, throw him off the roof even, but…she just ran away?

He hated her with every fiber of his being and he thought vice versa as well. But there was an unpleasant thought that rose up in his head.

Does she even actually hate him?

Chloé? A superhero?

If anyone ever told him that, he'd think they were out of their minds.

Despite that, here she was, standing in front of him in his balcony, all fuzz and buzz. Nathanaël crossed his arms. "What do you want, Queen Bee?"

"Do you still hate me for the Evillustrator incident?" Queen Bee asked. His glare was answer enough. Queen Bee looked down on the ground. "I'm sorry."

"Say that properly in my face, Chloé."

Her icy irises locked with his. She released her transformation and with a flash, where Queen Bee once stood, was the desolate figure of Chloé Bourgeois. Her kwami instantly hid in her jacket. Nathanaël waited. She clenched her fists and blurted out, "I'm sorry."

Nathanaël said nothing for a few seconds. Then, "Okay."

"Okay?" Chloé echoed in confusion.

Nathanaël said as he turned away, "I accept your apology. That doesn't mean I forgive you. That doesn't also mean I accept you as a superhero."

Chloé stared at him, flabbergast. "Wha – I just saved your life!"

"After calling me an idiot, that is." Nathanaël pointed out. "Besides, I could save myself easy."

"You were frozen on the spot. If it wasn't for me, you'd already be an ugly work of art on the concrete like your paintings." Chloé snapped, but then drew back as Nathanaël looked at her with utter loathing. She took a step back. "Nathanaël, I-"

"And here I was thinking you would be nicer after being a superhero." Nathanaël barked a laugh. "Looks like some people won't ever change."

With that, he slammed the balcony door in front of her face.

...

Chloé released her transformation and collapsed on her bed, exhausted from fighting the akuma and from apologizing to that stupid artist who just couldn't understand anything.

She buried her head in her pillow and screamed. He was just so infuriating!

Yes, she was trying to change. No, it wasn't easy. No, just because she learned her lesson and became a superhero, doesn't mean she would turn into a goody-two-shoes like Marinette overnight.

Her kwami buzzed over her head and sat on the pillow. "Why does his opinion matter to you anyway? You already said sorry."

"Sorry's not enough for him apparently." Chloé sniffed in irritation and disdain.

The quantic god looked at her, its dark filled eyes unreadable.

"Try your luck again tomorrow."

He disliked her.

Notice how that hate meter went down a notch? Blame his artistic desires from caving in to her peace offering.

Nathanaël had always come early just before homeroom started so he had time to do a little sketch without any disturbance. So when he stepped in the classroom, he was surprised to see a certain blonde sitting on his table, scrolling through her phone, a large paper bag beside her.

Chloé looked up. "Finally. Do you realize how long I've been waiting?"

"No need to wait. It's not like I wanted to see you first thing in the morning anyway." Nathanaël grumbled under his breath. He stopped in front of her. "You need something from me, Queen Bee?"

She glared at him, cheeks flushed. "Don't call me that!"

"Oh? I thought you were a superhero, so it was okay to call you that." He said nonchalantly. "Or maybe you really don't want to be a superhero because you can't be one."

This time, Chloé snapped. "What is it you want from me, Nathanaël?! Do you really hate me this much!? What did I ever do to you to make you hate me this much?!"

"I should be the one asking you that!" Nathanaël said back, his temper getting ahold of him. "You humiliated me in front of Marinette! You constantly make fun of my art! You're the cause of everyone's akumatization! It's your fault!"

"I'm here trying to make up for it now, aren't I?" Chloé yelled. "Why can't you just accept the fact that I'm trying to change?!"

"Cause you'll never change!" Nathanaël shouted.

SLAP

"I hate you." Chloé hissed, eyes red from the hot tears streaming down her face.

Nathanaël could only watch in shock as she stormed out, pushing Adrien out of the way. Adrien called out to his childhood friend in worry, but she ignored him. The young model furrowed his brows in worry. He looked up and when he saw Nathanaël's red cheek, it clicked in place.

"Had a fight?" Adrien said, walking up to him. The redhead looked away. Adrien leaned on the table, hands in his pocket, and said, "Don't hate on Chloé. It's been hard on her."

"Hard on her? It's been hard on us. She's mean and selfish and egoistic. She's a dictator." Nathanaël said bitterly. "How can I not hate her?"

"Chloé's spoiled but she doesn't know that." Adrien said right off the bat. Nathanaël looked at him in surprise. Adrien continued. "It's because her father is rarely around so he gives her things instead of his time and her mother…well, that's a sensitive topic to her. Chloe never knew how to apologize because her dad's the mayor, so everything she does gets covered up. She's surrounded by everything she wants, but never anything she needs."

"But after that…" Adrien smiled. "Well, she's learning. She's trying. It's hard for her, but at least she's trying."

Seeing that Nathanaël was still bitter, Adrien pushed the paper bag to him. Spotting Nino coming in, he said to Nathanaël, "She was my only friend, you know. If I turned out like this, then doesn't it mean she isn't all that bad?"

"Well, you're naturally nice." Nathanaël mumbled. "And don't you get annoyed when she throws herself at you?"

"Oh I do." Adrien said. "But that was then and this is now. Now, Chloé's toned down."

"Huh." was all that Nathanaël said. Now that he thought about it, since that incident and the appearance of Queen Bee, he hadn't heard her shrieks of 'Adrikins' in the mornings. His eyes widened at the contents inside the bag. Three sketchbooks for different paint mediums, a set of colors and paints, new brushes (all in the highest quality, I might add) and a premium card for access in the Louvre's restricted areas. "How does she know?"

"Well," Adrien pushed himself off the table and grinned at the artist. "Let's just say that Chloé has an affinity for the arts."

…

The ugly sobs were what gave her away.

Nathanaël pushed open the doors of the art room, sending the wafting smell of paint and graphite out the hall, along with the cries of a certain girl. He closed the doors with a click, cutting them off from the outside. Only the sound of traffic out the window and Chloé's sniffling hung in the air.

"Okay, so I went too far." Nathanaël broke the uncomfortable silence. "It was your fault though."

Chloé sniffed out a watery 'humph'. The young artist looked at her back, her shoulder tense. He asked, "Do you actually want everyone to like you? Is that it?"

"So what?" Chloé demanded. "What's wrong with wanting to be liked by everyone? Everyone wants to be liked."

"If you wanna be liked, you could try being nicer." Nathanaël said as he handed her a piece of paper that he ripped off his sketchbook. Finally, she looked at him. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying.

"I'm always nice." Chloé mumbled as she took it from his hands. He scoffed at that. He watched in interest as her expression changed from apprehension to awe. It was a rough portrait of Queen Bee side by side with Chloé. It was messy and rushed, but it looked like she didn't mind.

Chloé looked up at him, and for a moment, the icy walls of her gaze melted away. She opened her mouth, but no words would come out. Nathanaël said, "You can start with a thank you."

She looked down at the artwork, and with a tiny barest hint of a smile, she said softly, "Merci, Nathanaël."

He didn't not like her.

But that doesn't mean he liked her.

It would take a really long time for him to say that they were friends, much like how it would take Chloé a long time to walk away from her old ways.

It would be long, but they were getting there.

Don't worry guys, I'm getting to the love square. This chapter was an experiment.

I made no mention of her kwami's name because its name hasn't been released yet (today is Dec 22, 2016: reminder to people in the future when season 2 comes out) and I'm not even sure if her superhero name is Queen Bee. Oh well.

Also, my first multi-chapter fic titled Teaspoon (I suck at titles) is out! I'm nicer there, so don't worry about the angst. ;)

Thank you all for reading and waiting! See you all next time!