Trigger Warning:
Mentions of suicide.
Proceed with caution.
Stepping off the plane, Marinette took a big sigh of relief. Her eyes were heavy, as she hadn't been able to sleep at all on the plane, and she was ready for some well needed rest. She walked through the terminal, eyes out for her parents, when a large group of familiar faces holding a big glittery sign caught her eye. All her friends had come to meet her.
A small smile slid onto her face as the most recognizable face among them, beyond her parents ran and squeezed her. "Marinette!"
"Hi, Alya," Marinette said with a small laugh. Her voice was exhausted, the first thing Alya noticed.
"How you doing, girl? Been sleeping?" the red-head asked, brown eyes searching Marinette's blue ones.
"Yes, I've been sleeping, maybe not the most restful sleep, but sleep nonetheless." Next, Marinette's dad, Tom, swept Marinette off her feet for a hug.
"My little girl! You're all grown up!" Tom's eyes were watering as he held Marinette in his arms for the first time in years. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes, tears threatening to spill out of Marinette's eyes too.
When Tom set Marinette down, he gave her a wobbly smile before letting Sabine get her hug.
The rest was a blur. Marinette had gotten into the truck that belonged to Kim, her old classmate, and passed out. She remembered feeling a feeling of relaxation flood her body as she rested her head against the cool glass of the door. The Dupain-Cheng's car was small, so her riding home with her classmate made sense as she wouldn't have been able to fit in with her parents. Her body had matured over her time in college, making her slightly more plump in figure. When she first noticed her weight gain, she had a small freak out. Her roommates had assured her that she wasn't overweight and that she looked more like a teddy bear now.
Her dreams consisted of small moments of college– not much really on her mind at the moment. She wasn't fully enveloped in her sleep quite yet either, and it was her deep sleep when she had the most nightmares.
Her eyes fluttered open as the truck came to a stop outside her old home. The bakery hadn't changed at all– well, besides the lack of her living there. Kim wrapped her arm around his shoulders, noticing her half asleep state. He said something joking along with it, not that Marinette remembered what he had said.
Everyone who had come to pick Marinette up wished her well, and told her to spend the next few days resting, as Marinette had large circles under her eyes most likely due to the stress of being in college. She agreed before Tom picked her up and hauled her off to bed.
Her sleep was good for a large majority of the time, mainly parts of her memories interacting with her roommates and classmates flowing through her head.
Her roommates consisted of three girls. One had stayed her roommate the entire time she had been living there, that being the fireball of Lilly. She was sweet, and kind hearted. She did get heated when it came to topics she found infuriating or was passionate about, but that was her charm. Her second roommate was a stout latina girl named Mirabelle. Mirabelle, more often known as Mira, was in and out of relationships constantly. She lived by the saying "sisters before misters" and would go out of her way if any of the girls in the dorm was having a bad day. The final one was the quiet Jenna. She often kept to herself, not often making small talk with Marinette or the other girls. Something was off about her, both Mira and Lilly agreed with Marinette on that one, but she never caused trouble for them and that was enough to keep her around.
As Marinette's brain spiraled it latched onto a memory that Marinette had tried blocking out.
…
Marinette's phone buzzed on the counter. The phone lit up with the name "Alya" across the screen. Marinette let it ring as she finished putting on her eyeliner. She then pressed the answer button and put the call on speakerphone.
"Hey, Alya!" Marinette sing-songed. Tonight she was going to her first party, and she was so ready to tell Alya all about it. Alya would be excited, obviously, as Alya had been begging Marinette to get up the nerve to go to one and make more friends outside of her roommates.
"Hey, girl," Alya responded. Her voice sounded raw and empty, as if she had been crying before she called. This was unlike her. Alya was always so strong– the last time Marinette remembered Alya crying was when her mother had passed away. Alarms sounded in Marinette's head telling her this wasn't going to be a good conversation.
"Is everything alright?" Marinette cautiously brought herself to ask. She had abandoned her makeup and brought the phone to her bed.
"No. No, not at all. Are you sitting down?"
Odd.
"Yes, Alya. What's going on?"
"Marinette, please, whatever happens, do not freak out."
"Alya just say it, you're already freaking me out." Marinette's heart was speeding up. What was going on that Alya had to preface all of this before just telling her?
"Marinette, Adrien is missing."
The world stopped and time froze.
"...what?" Marinette's voice came out as a whisper, barely audible on the other end. A loud ringing began in Marinette's ears. Alya had begun to say something but Marinette couldn't hear her anymore.
Adrien was missing. Missing was a big word, right? Surely he'd turn up in a few days. But by the sound of Alya's distress, it was made too clear to Marinette that this was more than a one day disappearance. Like Alya had waited to tell Marinette just in case Marinette wouldn't be able to focus.
Marinette finally cleared her brain enough to listen to what Alya was saying. Alya's voice was shaking now, as if she was about to cry again. "They have no evidence to say what has happened to him and he's been gone for six months. Everything in his house has been left without a problem and Nathalie says that she never saw him leave the day he went missing. She had just assumed he was in his room."
The next sentence hit Marinette like a bus.
"They've found everything to assume it was a suicide."