#AB Cam: sowwy :(

[unreachablevoice]

Wear Your Heart On Your Wrist And Together, We’ll Soar To The Sky

Yo so here's chapter five! I had a hard time ending this for some reason because on one hand I wanted to end it on the last part before the line break, on the other, I wanted to include the one on the last part after the line break. My brain is very fried right now ngl

Btw so curse words are now filtered. I mean as much as I like cursing (please don't tell my parents, I don't want to die ㅠㅠ), I really think it's not ideal for it to be seen in my works (only in the fanfics). I'm still going to write warnings tho but like the actual curse words are just censored...

Anywho, hope you enjoy!

Warning: Swearing and cuss words may be present. Please read with caution, thank you!

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Chapter Five – I’m Sorry

Juleka had decided to wait for Marinette in their room right after their dinner and has been waiting for her for about a half-hour or so, give or take. And she’s okay with it. It was perfectly understandable for Marinette to stall for time before they talk about their feelings—which, she has to admit, is something they both don’t like to dwell much on—because it was her who asked to talk to the girl, not the other way around.

Shaking her head, she vaguely hears the ravenette talking to her friends outside. She hears soft murmurs and giggling just outside the door and, for some reason, the sound forms a knot in her stomach. Maybe it was because she missed being near that laughter, basking in the light that everyone knows (well, maybe some people in their class don’t) is Marinette.

Slapping her hands to her face to wake herself up, she wiggles on the bed to sit properly and at least keep her nerves at bay. It’s not that she’s nervous that Marinette would lash out on her or push her away—it’s perfectly understandable, though, if she were to do that since she did it to her first—it’s more like, she’s afraid that this “talk” they’re going to have will eventually hurt her.

You see, Juleka didn’t actually just started researching about Lila a few weeks ago. No, she had been researching for years (a good two to three years to be exact). And no, she did not have that hard of a time in scavenging the internet for answers to the Italian’s tales, so her lies weren’t really the main reason why she took a long time before talking to Marinette (except Lila had grown a bit better with her lies over time and had weird “proofs” and sometimes talked about people not from their generation (one of which was a weird artist she didn’t know about and couldn’t have bothered to remember the name of and she distinctly remembers having to stay up late and use her computer for hours on end, only to find that one article that said that they hated politics, which lead to the inevitable conclusion of how could Lila’s parents—who are supposedly involved in that division—be involved with that person?). So, yes, she definitely now has a hacker as a part-time job because Wikipedia can easily be edited by anyone so using that was a bust and just made her work a tad bit harder).

There was also the issue of how many lies the brunette tells every day. Seriously, she was like a rattling gun, spewing out bullsh■■ after bullsh■■ that Juleka can’t even count and determine which is real or fake in her plethora of words anymore!

But what really, really made her delay the restoration of hers and Marinette’s friendship is Lila herself. The teen was confused about her reasons for lying. She can’t say that she’s doing it because she wants to make friends, no, if that were the case, then if she’d already talked to Marinette, she’d know that the ravenette would accept her for who she is even without all her “glam”. But that’s not only the case. Juleka is also confused about the looks Lila kept giving Marinette.

Being an emotionally stunted teenager, the younger Couffaine isn’t one for chatting so she just opted for watching people’s body language. She has done so for years to the point that she can proudly say that she was almost an expert at it. So, imagine her utter shock and slight horror whenever she sees Lila staring at Marinette.

It wasn’t the normal I-hate-you-and-wish-for-your-death stare that you give to your mortal enemy, no, it was more crazed and unnerving. It made Juleka uncomfortable to even stand near the brunette. Something about her stare just screamed... something... something she can’t quite explain and she knows for sure that that something is fuelled with not-so-good intentions.

Shaking her head, the teen focuses on the sounds outside the door. Or more like, lack thereof... suffice to say, she briefly panics.

The brunette fumbles around the room before promptly sitting down on the bed, back ramrod straight with her hands clasped together atop her thighs. Sweat drips from her forehead and down her chin as she hears the doorknob rattle (was it just her or was it extra loud in her ears?) a few seconds before the door opens painfully slow.

Holding her breath, Juleka watches the raven-haired girl she’s been waiting for look around the room and sigh before going rigid when she finally catches sight of her.

“Marinette!” She abruptly stands up before remembering that what she’s doing is, in fact, embarrassing so she sits down again. “We–Welcome back.” She shrinks in on herself and busies her hands with fiddling with her sleeves.

“...yeah, I’m back,” the ravenette says while gently shutting the door with her hands behind her back.

. . .

What now??????????

Pointedly trying not to look at each other in the eye, uncomfortable silence blankets the whole room. Gosh, should she start? Oh, who is she kidding, of course, she should start! She was the one who wanted to talk to Marinette in the first place!

“I– um,” she stutters and swallows the rising lump in her throat. Gosh, was it just her or was it getting hot in here?

She dabs the sweat on her cheek with the edge of her sleeves and chances a peek at the blue-eyed beauty.

Ever since she had met her, Juleka had always been mesmerized by the girl’s beauty. Thick eyelashes that seemed to be an inch long; big, doe eyes that looked at the world with so much purity and compassion that Juleka has never wanted to protect anyone so much more than at that moment. Eyebrows that look so cleanly brushed you’d think she got it made, and pink lips that hid smiles brighter than the stars.

She’s got Mme. Cheng’s petite looks and strong physique, and M. Dupain’s big heart and safe arms.

The younger Couffaine could clearly remember how, even as a child, the Eurasian girl had always been the subject of almost all of their schoolmates’ affections. Even until now, women, men, and children alike still turn their heads whenever she walks near.

She recalls that even she—before she met Rose—had had her heart stolen by the girl at one point.

Briefly shaking herself out of her stupor, Juleka gnaws at her lip and tugs at the loose thread she conveniently found on the hem of her shirt.

Back to the matter at hand, how can she start their conversation? Should she apologize first? Or maybe talk about what she found out about Lila? Ah, seriously, this is why she should've listened to her brother’s nagging about needing to socialize with more people her age. Damn social interaction for being so gross.

“Juleka?”

She snaps out of her reverie and raises her head to the voice. Marinette looks at her with a confused glint in her eyes while her lips are curled with worry. Ah, did she take too long to answer?

She clenches her fist to somewhat ground herself and furrows her eyebrows. Her eyes shake with fury (for the Italian) and fear (of being rejected by the ravenette) and her sight seemed to go dark and bleary. “Lila, she—!”

“What about her?”

The ravenette’s interruption makes her head snap into attention that she almost felt whiplash. She stares at the girl’s apathetic face with confusion and opens her mouth. “She—!” she cuts herself off as she sees Marinette raise an eyebrow and sigh.

“Come, sit down”—she pulls at Juleka’s arm and sits her down on her bed— “and talk. You don’t have to look at me, you don’t have to try to placate me or whatever, just speak. You called me here to talk, but all you’ve been doing is pausing and looking up at me every five seconds instead of talking.”

The Eurasian girl’s voice sounded steeled but as the goth meets her eyes, she sees her gaze slightly wavering. Finding a hint of anxiety and fear lie just beneath her bluebell eyes and a small tug downwards on the corner of her lips gave Juleka all the more courage to communicate with the girl. Because her bundle of nerves could never be compared to what Marinette must be feeling right now.

“I know Lila lied,” she starts. “I–I’ve known for a while now and the reason why I didn’t… didn’t say anything yet was because I wanted to be sure.” She pauses and looks to the side, placing her frustrations on the edges of her sleeves.

“I mean, at first, the reason why I–I didn’t hang out with you as much as before was because you didn’t like Li–Lila that much so I thought you’d like some space,” she explains and tries to gulp down the lump in her throat before continuing. “But when I found out why exactly, I wanted to have more proof before talking”—she looks down at the floor and traces the lines with her eyes— “so… so that when they try to put down my–my–my voice, like they did to… to you, I can persuade them.” She feels Marinette’s eyes on her but, strangely enough, it wasn’t as piercing as she thought it’d be.

Grasping at thin straws of her courage, she arranges her bangs to hide more part of her face and continues, “I–I know I shouldn’t have waited too long to say any–anything but—” she cuts herself off and hunches her shoulders to hug herself. “—I was scared.”

She shuts her eyes and the image of Lila’s creepy gaze—the one she’d always direct to Marinette—appears in her head. “Not only because… because I may also be pushed away by them, I mean, I–I already knew that I will be if… if I said anything, but also because of… of Lila.”

She snaps her eyes open and looks at the ravenette in the eye. “There’s something there. Something in her gazes, her touches; something… something I can’t explain and… and it scares me.” She feels her hand lightly shake and her heart pounds heavily in her chest. “You have to stay away from her, Marinette.”

She looks down at her lap and wrings her hands, anxiety creeps inside her heart and her breathing grows heavy. The very thought of having one of her oldest friends—ever since école maternelle—be targeted by someone quite possibly dangerous scares her.

She hears a sigh and suddenly, warmth covers her shoulders. She looks up and—oh. Oh, Marinette’s hugging her. Marinette’s hugging her.

She shakily clutches the girl’s back and lays her head on Marinette’s shoulder. Even though the Eurasian was physically smaller than her, she seemed to always have such a big figure.

“I know.” She hears Marinette’s soft voice and a shaky sigh slips out from her lips. “I know that there’s something up with Lila. I know that… that it could be dangerous and that’s precisely why I never liked her, why I always kept my distance whenever she’s near.”

True to her words, Juleka had always remembered Marinette frowning whenever she hears Lila’s voice, leaving whenever Lila joins in on their conversations.

With one last squeeze, the brunette feels the Eurasian break free from the hug but leaves her hands on her shoulders. “Thank you for looking out for me,” she says. “Thank you for telling me all this even though I know that it must’ve been hard for you.” With a soft curve of her lips, she places their foreheads against each other. “Thank you, Juleka.”

Tears prick at the edge of her vermillion orbs and she tries to blink them away, only to have them spilling down her cheeks.

She chokes back a cry and shakes her head. “I’m sorry,” she sobs. Tears continue to flow down the brunette’s face but she makes no effort in wiping them away, opting to just wrap her arms around Marinette like a lifeline. “I’m sorry for pushing you away, for not listening to your words, for… for everything. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

She cries and screams like a child. She apologizes for everything; she berates herself for ever doubting her friend. And for once, she doesn’t worry about being controlled by a megalomaniac who dresses up with a deflated balloon over his face.

She shouts and wails and cries like there’s no tomorrow. And if the vigilantes of Gotham take in the displeasure of hearing her, then, she hopes that they’ll just leave her be and pretend to not hear anything.

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Waking up to the sound of her ringtone and a slight running of water, Juleka opens her eyes. Only to find it hard to do so. Ah, sh■■, okay, her eyes are hella puffy and are hella squinting. She really hopes that their swelling will go down before they have to meet up with the rest of the class in the lobby.

Groaning, she sits upright and stretches her arms above her head before the sound of a door opening catches her attention.

“Oh, you’re awake,” the familiar voice of Marinette reaches her ears. She sees the said girl bring her an ice pack for her eyes and thanks her.

After minutes of preparation, they leave for the lobby and Juleka is praying to the gods that their classmates won’t notice that she cried the night before. Marinette said that her eyes didn't swell anymore and are just a little reddish and not that noticeable but she’s still anxious.

It’s been two days and Juleka spent it all crying and reconciling with Marinette so she didn’t have time to rest properly. Not like she’s the only one, though, because Marinette also didn’t have time to rest in favor of her dramatic display of apologizing.

Although, there were times when the Eurasian’s friends would visit her in the middle of another one of Juleka’s repenting rituals. And it was so awkward because, just as Juleka and Marinette became not so close after Lila’s arrival, she and Marinette’s group also became distanced. And even if she had already apologized to the ravenette for two days straight, she knows that such bridges won’t be that fast to rebuild.

“Jules!” A familiar voice snaps her out of her reverie and she smiles at the small, blue-eyed blonde running towards her.

“Hey, Rose,” she greets the pixie-like girl with a pat on her head. She lets Rose hug the life out of her for a few minutes before letting go and joining their classmates.

She waits as Mmes. Bustier and Mendeleiev take their roll call while silently observing a certain Italian. Her eyes follow the girl’s every movement, from her little hand gestures whenever she’s boasting about her “achievements” to the way her eyes always seem to trace Marinette’s figure from time to time.

There she goes again, she thought, staring at Marinette like a predator to its prey.

Juleka distinctly remembers in her two-day repentance to Marinette about their talks of Lila’s actions. How, whenever people’s attention seems to turn away from her, she’d always make an incident to grab it again. How she’d always target Marinette for some reason, like that time when she was almost expelled—which Juleka now knows was another one of Lila’s ploys to bring down Marinette’s reputation—and a certain incident inside the bathroom (that she heard from Adrien in one of their visits).

Seriously, so Marinette already tried to reason with Lila! She just decided to not only ignore her but also threaten her! That little f■■■er!

Frowning at the reminder, Juleka thanks the gods for making Lila be on the down-low after the almost-Scarlet Moth incident. Although, she still can’t help but be suspicious of her inactivity.

By the gods, if this girl starts again and gets them killed or in danger—in any way form—she’ll start a riot, not even Gotham’s ruthless villains can save them!

She watches as Marinette walks past Lila—who’s chatting with Alya about something with gusto—pointedly ignoring her odd stare and not noticing the puddle right by her feet!

“Marine—!” she cuts herself off when Lila suddenly wraps her hands around Marinette’s arm and jerks her away from the small pool of dirty water.

“Right, Marinette?” Lila chirps sweetly—making Marinette promptly join in on their conversation—while further coiling her arms around Marinette’s own, etching a deep scowl on the ravenette’s pretty face.

Marinette roughly shakes her arms off of Lila’s vice grip and fixes her sleeve. “Sure,” she answers short and fast before rushing over to her friends without looking back.

“Aw, how nice! Lila helped Marinette avoid that puddle!” Mylène gushes beside her and chats up with Ivan about more of Lila’s “good deeds”. All the while, Juleka is left staring at the brunette looking strangely proud with herself as she continues in conversing with Alya.

“Right...” she mumbles, even more confused than she already was when she first saw Lila’s unnerving gazes at Marinette.

What the f■■■ just happened?

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Oof, now Juleka's confused. Are you also confused? Because I sure as hell am! I wonder what Lila's deal is tho?

Btw, I headcanon the Couffaine family to be just ride or die, fuck the police, type of people because Juleka literally suggested kidnapping as "cool" and Anarka just straight up yelled at an officer because he won't let her children scream like there's no tomorrow (lol) so yeah Juleka swears in this one ://

Anyways so like I know it's been like what a month? yeah a month, but actually I've been writing an original and I'm actually currently trying to put more focus on that hahaha well like at least until I gain like a lot of chapters in advance so that when the time of posting it comes, I'll just be sitting back and waiting until my supplies of chapters run out lol

So yeah, didn't see that coming didya? (I'm sorry I just don't know what to say ㅠㅠ)

Btw, I just looked at my followers count (and I just did so because I'm using my computer and it's right there!) and wowie I've long passed 500????????

WHAT??????????

I just wanna say thank you for all the support and I love you and I genuinely don't know why y'all still follow me even tho I basically go MIA every damn week ♡〜٩( ╹▿╹ )۶〜♡

Go become a Patron if you want to have early access to different updates! :)

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