The door quietly clicked shut after her. It had been a hard walk in ballet slippers with as fast as his father had been walking. She almost thought she was going to twist her ankle and had to hop a few times to catch up to his fast stride. Now she was in his office and feeling slightly uncomfortable for some reason.

Maybe it was the way he was looking at her like he suddenly didn't approve...?

Gabriel abruptly whirled to face the windows to his office, hands tightly clasped over his back. So many things from the spring season ran through his head now that she was next to him. Clues, pieces, answers, more questions...they all cluttered his mind and made thinking unclear and difficult. Everything was making too much noise as the questions demanded their paired answers all at once.

Teeth nibbled her lip, fingers twirling around each other as she gave in to the urge to fidget since he still didn't look her way. She stared at his back for as long as she dared before her eyes moved to a safer position on his desk. She could still see him in her peripheral vision behind the desk of his somewhat large office. It almost became a moot point to keep being here as the silence deafened her and he said nothing after moments.

Why was she here?! The clock ticked louder than him right now!

After minutes of trying to clear his head, Gabriel finally turned and strode up to her. He stopped too close to her personal space and looked down, eyes calculating and looking for more since the start of all of this.

Chloe's words and the notepad roamed through his mind. It didn't make sense, but in a way it did. It was very subtle...very well hidden. No one would have ever suspected a thing from looking at her. She never gave off that vibe and yet, when he choose to look deeper, deep into the memories of being near her, the crumbs were spread out in a trail for anyone to follow.

Never was there a time when a parent would be more scared than to hear that their only child had collapsed and rushed to the hospital. Never would the guilt and fear be greater at wondering if such decisions concerning that child's life led to such a thing. The blame, the self-hatred had been there during the entire recovery time. So much had almost changed on a dime, but then it uprighted itself and continued as it had before such harrowing emotions ever existed.

The upset, the disappointment, the confusion... The inability to understand 'why' was always there. A parent had to rule on logic and facts; totally opposite to the emotional realm of a teenager. While that fact was always glaringly apparent, it was still difficult to comprehend.

Gabriel had thought he was the sole cause to his son's suffering and hospitalization. That had never been his intention; never would be his intention. To find that there was a cause outside of himself, one that his own son foolishly accepted and loyally undertook, altered his emotions at that news.

Now, there was a face to all of these chaotic, unresolved emotions which had plagued him for too long. There was an actual person who had extended her hand and dragged his son along to his own physical demise which required days of bed rest and near comatose sleep for two days.

Requiring an IV because he had been unconscious and unable to feed himself.

Now, Gabriel had a person he could place the blame on for his son's actions and an outlet for the mounting anger he didn't fight.

Give in he did.

In the silence, the sound of slapped skin broke through the office.

Marinette's head whipped to the side at the blow. She stumbled and almost fell in her slippers, but caught herself. Wide eyes stared at the floor in absolute shock, ears hearing nothing of an explanation or the like to give rise to the need for such violence. A shaking hand slowly rose and cupped the injury, chest heaving at the abrupt surge of adrenaline.

Once the shock wore off, anger took its place. Blue turned into a maelstrom and whipped up to meet the furious eyes of Gabriel Agreste. "What was that for?!" She demanded, glaring at such behavior.

Gabriel's eyes narrowed as their eyes battled for dominance. "I demand you to tell me the truth to what I just heard concerning some 'nightly activities' of yours."

A brow rose, but something in the back of her head started becoming concerned. "I...I have no idea what you're talking about! What nightly activities are you even referring to?"

Gabriel leaned down, body stiff. "The one that my son has been participating in for months on end. The one that led to his eventual collapse and hospitalization. You invited him! Your little hovel of hip hop dance trash is not for my son. He belongs here in this school with me!"

The blood rushing in her ears drowned out most of the warning bells that were going off in the back of her head. Every instinct told her to flee right now, but she was stone in front of his father.

Panic squeezed her chest so tight that breathing was difficult. It was hard to think clearly with the owner of the school pointing out things she never wanted to reach his ears. Her hands trembled, but hiding them under his scrutinizing gaze was pointless.

"It's your fault that my son ended up there and then in the hospital out of exhaustion! His constant attendance to your hapless place wore him down and he was unconscious for two days due to lack of sleep! You were the one to open this path to him and cause that horror! Do you deny this? Do you deny seeing my son in that ridiculous black outfit of his for months and stringing him along?"

"He didn't have to accept it!" She snapped back, immediately flinching after the words left her mouth. Her eyes flew wide at how easily she had taken the bait and she took a step back in fear.

She cringed at how horribly she just gave herself away and any involvement in Adrien's daily life back to when they had no knowledge of the other really was. She had never known he was that sick, but if she thought back to that extended absence when she thought he was done with the Underground, it made sense.

He hadn't been done, he had been in the hospital!

Guilt, upset, sadness, paranoia, panic. Everything was written on her face and it was impossible to hide. She had never been good at hiding secrets because she never ignored her emotions. This was the worst time to be an open book, however.

The look of anger turned to recognition as Gabriel leaned back. His eyes adjusted again, turning cold and disapproving as they remained on her.

"M – Monsieur...I...I...don't...Adrien...t – the..."

"You've said more than enough Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng. You've just validated everything I heard and found out concerning my son." Gabriel took a step away, shoulders squaring. "You're a horrible human being to give my son such an invite, knowing what it would do to him. You've been here to audition. You know what the school's hours are. You've no doubt seen him perform ballet and know how much mental and physical concentration it takes. To tell my son of such a place and deprive him of his much-needed sleep is inexcusable."

"He needed it!" She loudly retorted, fists clenching and eyes blazing. "He's been trapped under your thumb for so long...he needed a release from this life! I could see it even though I didn't really know him at the time! I didn't mean him any harm; I was only trying to help him. It's always been his choice to show up or not. Participation isn't mandatory! The Underground is a place of dance freedom for those that don't want to be judged by people such as yourself for the talent they may or may not possess. Don't talk badly about something you know absolutely nothing about!"

His hand moved and grabbed a wrist. He squeezed harshly, not letting go when she struggled to make him. He watched the clenched teeth, the glare, and heard the demands to unhand her. He yanked her forward and glared back.

"As far as I'm concerned, you have very few options, and the only one I'll concede to is to remove yourself permanently from this school, never to return. If you refuse, I will find the location of this Miraculous Moves Underground, reduce it to rubble, and find ways to incriminate everyone involved in Adrien's hospitalization! Leave now; don't even finish out practice. If I ever see Adrien near you for whatever reason, my vengeance will be swift and harsh. You have my word on that one."

She yanked her hand away, knowing he gave it back to her. She stumbled a few steps away for safety, suddenly fearing what this person would do. She eyed him cautiously as he stared at her like she was much lower under his feet.

She felt like she was trapped with a dangerous animal and perhaps she was. Gabriel Agreste had lost his wife and almost lost his son; he had been tampered with more than should have happened. Whether intentional or not, she had caused problems in this person's life and he was about ready to make her pay for whatever she had made him experience.

Tears lined her eyes as his words penetrated her brain. Never...to return...

So many years she had dreamed of being here in this place full-time, then on his stage as a professional. So many auditions, so much work and effort.

So much practice...so many failures.

So many tears and days of depression, of feeling like she would never be good at the one thing she loved. They crashed over her and his words echoed in her ears. She was done and she would never be able to come back. If she did, her life would start fraying at more than just the edges.

She stared at him, inching back as she did so, finding conviction in his features. He was serious; he would bulldoze the building they were using without a second thought! He would connect innocent people who had nothing to do with Adiren's issue just to lash out at her in his anger! Her parents would probably find out about what was going on and then there was that huge issue to deal with. Not to mention what would happen with Alya...Nino...Nathaniel...

She wasn't going to let that happen! The hand rubbing her wrist clenched around it gingerly before she whirled and threw his door open.

So be it. As hard as it was...she had no choice.

It was a hard run to the locker room, but she wasn't going to stop and take off her slippers. Not yet.

She threw the door open, eyes swimming and chest burning. She hurried to the locker and somehow managed the numbers on the first try. She plopped down and quickly undid the knots to her laces, throwing the shoes in her duffel and looked to her attire. She didn't care to change, as everything was covered.

It didn't matter; nothing mattered right now.

She didn't think she could manage to get dressed properly with as choppy as her hands were and as disorganized as her mind was anyway.

The happiness of this place quickly fizzled into one big lie. It was horrible and cruel. She felt betrayed and it made the sting that much stronger as it pierced her chest.

Somehow, she managed to get into her everyday shoes and ran from the locker room. She rushed down the hallway and past the classroom, tears streaming down her face and trying to keep from collapsing. She almost hoped she didn't leave anything important in the room, but didn't stop. She didn't care; someone could throw it away.

She didn't want anything related to ballet right now!

Being outside didn't help her to calm down much, but it did bring new questions to her. How did Gabriel know?! How did he find out?! She had never given away anything related to the Underground in her dancing ever since the spring! She didn't think such a tiny thing would have been enough to incriminate her to such an extent...

How...?

Her mind was blank for what felt like eternity before a small thread of light shone down with something akin to an answer. Something inside her absolutely died when only one person could know. Gabriel could have never found out otherwise.

The tidbit of happiness that she had found the last few weeks screamed in agony as it twisted and warped. It screamed in agony as it shattered into a million pieces and scattered itself into dust across her feelings. The pressure on her chest increased as anger and treachery coursed through her tenfold.

"I swear that I won't tell anyone who you are. I never intended on it in the first place. You have my word. I'll show you that you can tell me anything you want Marinette."

She wanted to hit something. She wanted to throw her duffel as far as she could and not care what or who it hit. She squelched a scream of true, despairing rage, eyes seeing only red.

Never had she known such fury in her entire life, through any undertaking or any person she had ever known. She felt absolutely filthy now for ever believing such words.

He was a liar; a damned, filthy liar!

She didn't know how it happened, but it had happened. He must have let something slip during his screw-up after finding out her identity. That morning when she showed him her real face had to be it. He ran away shortly after because his father had found out what he had been doing for months on end. His own selfish desires had just led to her complete undoing.

No...that wasn't it...nothing was that one-sided and simple...

Trust him, he said... She felt like a total fool for ever thinking he would be true to his pretty words. Nails dug into her skin hard enough to draw blood as she felt utterly humiliated. The pain wasn't enough to draw her from her own head, but she wished it was.

Tears of anguish streamed down her face and kept falling. She wiped them away only a few times, but gave up when they refused to stop.

This was her fault for ever inviting someone like him! He needed an escape, she saw that, but she should have known better than to get too close to him! She felt she led him on enough to want more and then he gave in to his greediness. She gave him what he wanted at the cost of herself.

She brought him into her home at the possibility of his father finding him there and destroying her parent's bakery. She allowed herself to feel something for him and now she was out on the street in front of the school when practice was going on.

Who should she be more upset with? Him for letting his father find out...or herself for trusting him and falling all over again?

She suddenly took off in a dead run, needing to be as far away from this place as quickly as possible. Her feet pounded on the pavement as she went all out, needing to exhaust herself so she didn't feel like this. She almost ran into people as she tried to dodge, but not caring if her shoulders scraped up against them or their angry shouts as she bolted away.

She ran in the general direction of home, but knowing she wouldn't be able to go there just yet unless it was to sneak up the back door without her parents knowing and hide this all from them. She had nowhere else she wanted, needed, to be right now and the day suddenly stretched into tedious eternity on her with no goal in mind.

Adrien Agreste. She had loved him for the longest time. She had buried her feelings for him over the years, but really only as a means of self-preservation. They had never gone away and during his time at her home showed her just how lost she still was. His smiling face, his few soft kisses, his excellent dancing ran through her mind.

He became the target for her anger and she mentally threw it at him even as she ran away from him. He got what he wanted while she was farther down the ladder than she ever dreamed she'd be. Intentional or not, this was all his fault!

'You stupid, stupid Marinette!' She berated, teeth clenching. 'Stupid Adrien Agreste! Stupid boy! I hate you...I hate you! This is all your fault, you stupid cat! I'll never forgive you! I don't care if I ever see you again! Your father can have you for all I care! Good riddance to you all!'