As promised, not delay for today's chapter. Hope you'll enjoy because we're soon reaching the end of this story.

Chapter Thirteen: Song beneath the song

If Adrien had first wanted to use their outing at a karaoke bar as an opportunity to serenade Marinette tonight, the idea had soon become wishful thinking. But thanks to Plagg's love for cheese, he was now forced to find something to sing anyway.

After an hour of sulking with Marinette, he was surely not in the mood for anything romantic. Especially not when she ran away anytime he tried to bring her feelings for him (or whatever came closest) up. It felt like bumping into an increasingly solid wall, and if they both continued that way, Adrien would end up with a concussion along with his broken heart.

Unless he could reach the core of the solid wall she had built over the past months... If he couldn't get her to open up and talk to him... Maybe he could get her to listen and eventually get his words to break through the bulwark sheltering her heart.

"Have you chosen what to sing?" One of the musicians called out to him as he absentmindedly flicked through the songbook.

"Just a minute."

The French repertoire… No. Alya and Nino had already covered most of it anyway. Besides, there was something about singing in English that thrilled him. Especially love songs or bittersweet ones—kind of melancholic.

That was it. Maybe his pain could speak to hers. If she saw how much they were both suffering from the situation, it could perhaps lead them to finally get it off their chest once and for all.

Skimming faster through the songbook, he ended up finding just what he was looking for; the perfect song and story to reflect the mirror of his sorrowful thoughts.

"This will be the one." Adrien pointed to his choice. "I'd like to play it alone. If you agree to let me have the synthesizer, of course." Renewed determination sparkled in his eyes

"You know how to use it?"

"I'm used to play the piano, I know it's not the same but—"

"You want to impress the beautiful Lady you came here with tonight, huh?"

The choice of words made him flinch. Well, he had to get used to the fact he was pretty unlucky with the ladies then.

"I'm afraid she wouldn't even be impressed," he sighed. "But I still have a message to deliver." He peered above his shoulder, stealing one last glance at Marinette. His gaze then moved to the crowd, whispering and muttering because he was probably taking too much time for their liking.

Eventually, he found himself alone on stage and slipped behind the synthesizer.

There was nothing more to say, now his heart would speak for him. Hopefully.

Cracking his fingers, Adrien then let the back of his hand gingerly brush the keys without ever making them sound. He took a deep breath, placing the mic in front of his mouth before hitting the first note and starting to sing.

«I need somebody to heal

Somebody to know

Somebody to have

Somebody to hold

It's easy to say

But it's never the same

I guess I kinda liked the way you numbed all the pain»

The words instantly started to pour out of him like raindrops falling on a cold, showery day. The more he went, the more the rain soaked everything in its path. A treacherous, slippery path, ready to take down anyone crossing it.

«Now the day bleeds

Into nightfall

And you're not here

To get me through it all

I let my guard down

And then you pulled the rug

I was getting kinda used to being someone you loved…»

His gaze searched for Marinette's, locking with her widened bluebell as his fingers got more jittery.

Growing huskier, his voice conveyed an array of emotions as bitter and dull than the black and white keys he was currently hitting.

«I'm going under and this time I fear there's no one to turn to

This all-or-nothing way of loving got me sleeping without you

Now, I need somebody to know

Somebody to heal

Somebody to have

Just to know how it feels»

Painful. It felt painful. Even more painful when she headed for the exit before the end of the song.

An end? What end? This one was cut short as he stopped dead in his tracks to run after her.

If anything deserved an ending tonight, it was this whole mess between them. The misunderstandings, the lies, the unsaid…

It was all coming to an end tonight.

"Marinette, wait!" A thunderclap suddenly muffled Adrien's call. He could only increase speed to catch up with her and call out again, "Marinette, please!" He reached for Marinette's wrist and grabbed on her sleeve, only for her to snappily pull away from his grasp as if trying to get rid of a pickpocket.

"Leave me alone, please!"

"Come on, aren't you tired of running away?!"

Marinette turned around so quickly that his own neck hurt for hers.

"Are you kidding me?" Facing Adrien, she glared at him and stomped a foot on the ground. "You spit your venom at me, wholly singing for everyone to hear, and you want me to stay, swallowing it until it eats me to the bone? Seriously? You've got some daring nerve!"

Jaw hardening and eyes darkening, she finger-threatened him as though she was about to jump at his throat. Then eventually, she backtracked, partially turning away from him, and looking into the distance. "Stay… that's what I've done up to now. When your world fell apart after your father's arrest, I was there for you; more than anyone else." She looked behind her, her gaze undoubtedly staring at their friends laughing through the window of the karaoke bar behind her.

She had a point. Marinette had been there more than anyone else. And without wanting to use comparisons unfairly; he didn't blame anyone but his father for everything that had happened. Marinette had been there for him even more than Nino had.

Racking his fingers through his hair and moistening his lip with his tongue, Adrien tried to save it. "You know that's not what I meant. I can't thank you enough for all the support you've given me this past yea—"

As he tried to get closer and put a gentle hand on her shoulder to temper the arising argument between them, Marinette turned back to him again. He recoiled, taking back his hand as he saw her previous anger fading into irritation. The storm was far from over, and considering the disappointment glinting into her eyes, it wouldn't let them get away unscathed.

"Thus you don't get the right to tell me that I am running away. Whatever rough path you're going through at the moment, I'm still hanging in there, but this one time, you're going overboard, Adrien!"

"You say you're there, but you're not actually there. You barely talk to me. I only have the picture: it's like watching a show without the sound on." Adrien waved a hand in front of her as though he was showing a technician what was wrong with his broadcasting.

"You certainly know something about sound, I definitely heard what you had to say tonight. Nice performance." Marinette clapped her hands together, starting slightly before clapping with renewed vigor, mocking and applauding him with a bitter smile. "I know I said we had something to sort out, but I didn't expect you to do it without giving me the chance to say something back. It takes two to have a conversation," she stated as a matter of fact.

"Pot calling the kettle black," Adrien mumbled through gritted teeth. This time, she was the one who crossed the line with her typical denial. "You're right. It takes two! Something that never happens with you because you always run away from the subject and I'm always left alone wondering if, one day, I will finally get answers. I'm tired of being taken for a ride!"

"Don't you dare joke around about that with your stupid puns! You're the one who brought this little arrangement up; all sex, no dates, no kisses, no feelings. I'm just sticking with the plan when you keep changing the rules as you see fit!" Uh-oh… The threatening finger was back poking his chest, along with some sort of killer glare (which wouldn't even kill a bug by the way). "This isn't fair, and you know it!"

Well, when it came to what was fair or not, the wrongs seemed equally shared lately.

"You leave me no other choice but to act since you don't want to talk to me, Marinette!"

"We don't need to talk to have sex."

"But I want more than that!"

"I don't! I can't!" The finger that weighed on his chest balled into a fist, pounding against his torso.

Adrien looked down at her silently as her eyes quickly caught his. They stared at each other for a moment which seemed suspended in time. There was a mixture of sadness and anger painting both of their faces. Tears pooled into their eyes and mingled with their disappointed glare.

"Why did you kiss me on graduation day?" Adrien broke the sound of silence with a question straight out of the past, yet with a wound that was still present.

"I…"

"Say it, Marinette. No more lies."

"I… I used to have a huge crush on you back in Collège and Lycée."

"Why didn't you tell me that instead of running away?"

"I felt ashamed from fooling around with you. I… That night, I…" Marinette paused to take a deep breath, only for a grunt to mingle with the puff she breathed out. Her fingers delved into her hair, pulling on them as they drifted down her face, almost scratching her skin. "That night, after I ran away… I took shelter in someone else's arms… I… I kissed someone else. Someone who was, and is still, preventing me from loving you fully as you deserve. What does that make me?! I'm a—"

"A human being," Adrien whispered, all traces of judgment long gone. He had done the same after all; kissing someone else that same night.

After Marinette had run away, he had leaped over Paris's rooftops. He would lie if he dared to say it wasn't in hope of finding solace from his Lady. Eventually, he had found much more than some friendly comfort. He had been welcomed by the warmth of her arms as well as her lips and their tight embrace. Though the peace he had found was short-lived; Ladybug had ended up reacting more or less the same way as Marinette did, and they had never spoken of that night again.

Both situations, barely an hour apart, had been pretty peculiar now that he allowed himself to think about it. And even if he had tried to dismiss this crazy idea in his head, enjoying the first kiss he wouldn't be forced to forget with Ladybug, it had seemed to him that his partner tasted a little sour. Like, puke. Yet, Marinette had vomited on him shortly before he ran into Ladybug. Ladybug who also had her graduation that day, and obviously some 'drunken party misshapes' she didn't want to talk about.

The crazy idea seemed even crazier now. Yet it made sense in their crazy… lives.

Trying to recover from the revelation that was slowly coming to him, Adrien took a step forward and cautiously tried to grab Marinette's hand in his. Though she flinched backwards.

"Marinette, please~ I lov—"

"Please, don't." She sternly cut him off. "I can't have you. Neither can I have him. I thought a physical connection with you and that unique emotional bond with mon Chaton would allow me to keep you both, but that was selfish of me. My indecision can't continue to hurt the two wonderful men I love." Marinette looked down at her feet, her fists clenching at her sides. "We shouldn't have made our little arrangement. We never should have. Sometimes people leave because they need to think…" She paused, looking him straight in the eye, a lonely tear rolling down her cheek. "Sometimes, they leave because they thought it through. I'm sorry, Adrien. It's over."

Marinette turned on her heels and ran away as quickly as the revelation made its way into Adrien's head and heart.

She could have both and he was going to make sure she would.