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goddesofimortality · 5 years ago

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Day 8: Heartbreak

This was a tough one because I couldn’t think of a romantic heartbreak to write about, but that isn’t the the only type of heartbreak in life, so I did something more like a self love and growth kind of thing. I hope you guys enjoy it!!

For MLValentines2k20

It had come as a surprise to everyone when Marinette quit her position as the class representative.

It was an even bigger surprise when she announced that she would be switching schools, to a prestigious academy of arts nonetheless.

“But how did you-” Lila jumped out of her seat in complete shock and angrily stomped the “injured” foot she had been complaining about for days with no signs of pain.

Her classmates were shocked as they took note of her bandaged leg. They had been helping her carry her things for days, a not so easy task with how heavy her bag was. Suddenly, Marinette’s voice rang in their ears as she warned them that she was lying. Oh how blind they had been…

“Jagged,” Marinette began as she pulled up a picture of the rock star wearing his luxurious new outfit for last night’s music award festival. He held up a certificate with Marinette by his side, in a cute dress decorated in her signature flower pattern. “He has decided to hire me as his personal designer and has decided to sponsor me on my journey to become a professional.”

“That’s impossible!” Lila ran up to her in anger, and tried to snatch her phone away.

This time, there was denying Marinette’s past accusations as some of their classmates let out an annoyed breath as they continued to watch the brunette in anger. Lila was using her sprained wrist effortlessly to try and wrestle Marinette’s phone out of her hands, another clear, irrefutable piece of evidence that proved she had been lying.

“Jagged would never!” Lila’s tunnel vision was so strong, she failed to realize how she was ripping away the blindfolds she had elaborately placed on her classmates.

“Oh, but he did.” Marinette didn’t hold back as she slapped Lila’s hand away and stood her ground. “Because, unlike you, I actually know Jagged and he’s a close friend of mine.” Marinette glanced around the classroom and smiled as realization sank into her classmates. Marinette took a deep breath and held her ground, standing tall and proud against the girl who had tried to break her.

“But-!”

“Enough, Lila!” Adrien walked over to Lila and placed a hand on her shoulder before pulling her back a little harder than necessary. “You just gave yourself away and all because you couldn’t stand the idea of Marinette being happy?” Adrien’s voice was calm and collected but his tone gave away how mad he was. “Mari was right,” he began as he pulled his hand back as if he’d touched something disgusting. “There’s no way you were ever going to stop being a manipulative liar and I was a fool for wanting to believe you’d change.”

“Miss Rossi,” Mme Bustier called in a cold voice as Lila went wide-eyed. “It would seem you have some explaining to do.” Lila looked down at her foot before looking back at the rest of the class who now stared at her in anger and complete disgust. It was clear that realization was slowly kicking in, and she still tried to lie her way out of it.

“I-I can explain!” Lila cried as she tried to back away from everyone as they got out of their seats. In her effort to escape, she failed to realize that running up to Marinette earlier had undone her bandage, and fell as she tripped on her way out of the classroom. It was no surprise to them when she howled in pain as they heard her trip down the stairs with a bang. But no one made an effort to follow her, well, except for the teacher. She was still a minor under her authority after all.

“I’m sorry for not being more open about my support sooner. I really did try to help her change, especially with the whole expulsion incident, but I was an idiot to believe in someone like her.” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck as he looked down in embarrassment of his own foolishness. “You’re my friend, and I should’ve backed you up better, and supported you sooner.” He looked up, hoping to find a smiling Marinette who would reassure him that everything would be okay.

Instead, he found a stern-faced Marinette who looked up at him with watery eyes.

“I’m sorry Adrien, but I can’t accept your apology. At least, not now.” She turned to the quiet class who now stood at the bottom steps of the rows. “The same goes for all of you guys. Knowing you, you’ll try to apologize for being so blind and then ask me how you can make it up to me, but I can’t deal with that right now. I can’t forgive you guys right now.” The class lowered their heads or looked away in shame.

“Mari,” Adrien called softly as he reached out to her.

“Don’t-” Marinette began as she took a step back.

Adrien was shocked, hurt even, that she would pull back from him in such a scared way that she held up her books in front of her as a shield. However, the thing that shook him to the core, was seeing her cry. The tears fell silently, without her seeming to notice as he pulled his hand back and back to his sides.

“It hurt, Adrien.” Marinette lowered her books and looked him in the eyes. “She threatened me, Adrien. To hurt me and to make me lose everything and everyone I loved.” Her voice cracked as she thought back to that day when she had been cornered by Lila. “I was so scared, and yet no one believes me. And even though you knew, you told me to let her be, to be the bigger person and I did because I loved you, Adrien.”

Adrien felt his heart stop. His mind couldn’t keep up with anything anymore and he felt himself gasping for air. Lila had threatened Marinette, and though she hadn’t hurt her physically, she had hurt Marinette in a much more deeper, emotional and psychological way that he couldn’t protect her from. Then her confession sank in. She had loved him. Past tense.

“Mari, I really did try to help her be a better person. I know it’s not a good excuse, but I even convinced her to come clean when you were expelled because I didn’t want you to get hurt. I let her do as she wanted with me, so she wouldn’t hurt you and I really thought I was helping her be good. But I never thought she would-” Adrien felt his eyes sting but forced his own tears back, he had no right to that right now. “God, I was so stupid! I promised to have your back and I let you down. I’m so sorry, Marinette.”

“I’m sorry too,” Marinette began as she wiped at her tears with the palm of her hands. “I’m sorry that whatever life you’ve had before, has blinded you so horribly to what defines a good person. And I’m sorry to myself for letting myself be put down like that because I believed that you would help me. I’m sorry for having wasted so much of my time trusting you like I did,” she turned to the class as she tried to fan her face to stop the tears. “Because if you had really cared, if you had really been my friends,” she turned back to Adrien as she allowed one last tear to fall for him. “You wouldn’t have sat in silence as she repeatedly broke my down.”

Adrien’s heart broke as he watched Marinette try to regain her composure with several deep breaths, but something about it, made it hurt more than he had expected it to. Seeing her so vulnerable tore at him, like someone had reached into his chest and gripped his heart with the intent of ripping it out. The embodiment of love had lost her spark, and it was all because of him. He found himself unable to move, despite wanting nothing but to hold her in his arms and tell her that everything would be okay. That they would make it through this together, them against the world, but as she looked up at him with eyes that refused to shed any more tears, he realized it was too late. He had lost something far more precious than he had realized until it was out of his reach.

“This was meant to be a happy good bye, not this heartbreaking farewell.” Marinette placed a hand on her chest as she began to relax, gaining the strength to once again stand tall and confident. “I realized that I need love myself, that I am under no circumstances someone else’s emotional punching bag and that I deserve to be loved. I deserve to be surrounded by real friends who trust and respect me. Why? Because I am a human being. That’s why I agreed to transfer, because I need to do what’s best for me, and what I need,” she looked into Adrien’s eyes with a rueful smile, “It isn’t here. It’s somewhere out there, waiting for me to find it.”

Marinette could feel her heart ache, but this was for the best. She once again pushed aside her feelings, but smiled as she remembered that this time, it was for her own sake. “So,” she began as she turned to look at each of her classmates, “When I am ready, I will accept your apologies.” She adjusted her hold on the books that didn’t fit in her backpack, and looked at Alya and Nino. “Until then, I will be working hard to make my dreams come true.” She turned to Adrien and offered him one last smile. “I am glad that I got to meet you, all of you, I’m just sorry it didn’t work out. Hopefully when we’re all ready, we can give it another go. Until then, I wish you all the best.”

With that, Marinette turned around and walked out of the classroom, leaving everyone in a guilty silence.

It hurt, to cut off her friends like that, but it was for the best. Marinette held her head high, allowing herself to look back one last time, only when she had reached the steps outside of the school. She smiled fondly at the memories she had made with all of her friends and at the memory of the kind boy she had shared an umbrella with. He would always be her first love, but that was all he was ever meant to be. A beautiful memory, a fleeting dream, of what could have been. With one last deep breath, she turned around and walked away.

Since that day, the pain in her heart slowly began to disappear, and as she adjusted to her new school dorms, she began to make new friends and actually enjoyed her classes for the first time in a long time. It was still hard, at times, to get away when Ladybug was needed, but it didn’t take long for new, more permanent heroes to help her and Chat Noir.

Her feline partner had fallen quiet for a while, but eventually regained his spark when she told him that she was now having the time of her life. He knew her heart was still healing from her first heartbreak, but to her surprise, he wasn’t pushing his luck like before. He kept the flirting down to a bare minimum while respecting her space. He had turned to look her in the eyes when he’d said that someone he loved had taught him the importance of boundaries and respect. His eyes seemed to flash with recognition for a moment and he reached out to her, but he caught himself and shook his head before apologizing for how he had tried to pressure her into loving him.

It had taken her by surprise, but she accepted his apology and hugged him tightly. “Thank you, Chaton!” She allowed herself to hold him tightly without having to worry about his flirtatious advances. “You’re my best friend, and I was scared of losing you because I couldn’t return your feelings. It’s always been you and me against the world, and without you, I would be lost.”

Chat Noir was shocked. Not only did he realize that he had been pushing her away with his advances, but he confirmed what he had been suspecting since Marinette left school. Ladybug and Marinette were the same person. Their eyes, though slightly different because of the magic they used, still held her usual strength and kindness to them. It was then that he made a vow to himself. He may have failed her as Adrien Agreste, but he was going to protect her as Chat Noir. With a promise in his heart, and a new resolve, he gave her a gentle squeeze and left her with a smile as his ring began to beep.

And so, the days came and went, and one day, she realized her heart no longer heart. She was happy, even if she did sometimes run late to class. She laughed as she thought of Alya telling her off for being slow and considered replying to her message later.

“Wooops!” Marinette felt her body lurch forward and prepared herself to hit the ground but was surprised when a strong arm caught her.

“Careful,” a boy hissed as he pulled her up. He wore a scowl on his face but it didn’t take long for Marinette to recognize his icy blue eyes and golden blonde hair.

“F-Felix?” Marinette stumbled back in embarrassment, causing her portfolio to slip from her hands. Oh no.

“Oh, it’s you.” Felix adjusted his violin case as he noticed the pieces of paper on the floor. “What brings you to my school?” He asked as he kneeled down to help her pick up the detailed sketches.

“Fashion design,” Marinette laughed awkwardly as she took the sketches he had gathered and carefully placed them in her portfolio. She flipped through the pages to make sure that nothing was missing, “You?” She nodded when nothing seemed to be out of place and was surprised when she found Felix peering over her shoulder.

“Music, design, business, you name it.” Felix took a step back and nodded towards her portfolio. “You’re actually pretty good. I’m surprised my uncle hasn’t hired you in an ironclad contract.”

“Actually, Jagged Stone did.” Marinette laughed as the warning bell rang. “Ack! That’s my cue, I gotta go. See you around Felix!” She cried with a smile as she ran off.

“See you around,” he laughed as he made his way towards the music hall.

_________

I really wanted this to make the class realize they were lied to, but not in a salt kind of way. It was difficult since I haven’t written this much in a long time, but boy was it fun.

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thenovelartist · 6 years ago

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Second Chances, Chapter 14

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Marinette looked weak. Weaker than he’d ever seen her. It brought to his attention just how strong of a woman she was because he never noticed just how small she was until that moment. It twisted his heart painfully. And considering the way Nino and Alya approached her in pity, it must have twisted their hearts, too.

Adrien turned his attention to the two people Marinette had showed up with. Her parents, from the looks of it. Or at least his best guess. She looked a lot like her mother.

“Thanks for coming,” Marinette said, giving hugs out to Alya and Nino.

“We got your back,” Nino assured, rubbing her shoulder.

She gave him a slight smile before looking over to Adrien. “Thanks for being here.”

He sided up next to her, arm extended with the intent of a side hug, but she twisted, wrapping her arms around his torso and squeezing him tight. Only then could he feel the true turmoil going on inside her: she was one step away from breaking.

Even when she was at he weakest, she was strong.

He admired her so much more than he thought possible.

He settled into the hug, holding her close. “This is really good,” he whispered to her. “I know how hard it was to dig through my mom’s things, and I waited two years to do so. I’m really proud of you.”

She sniffed and squeezed him tighter.

He waited until he was certain she wasn’t going to cry before pulling back. “Now, no more delays. Go open the lock.”

She frowned, her stalling tactics having been caught. She fished her keyring out of her bag, the little ladybug charm hanging from her fingers as she flipped through the keys. Her father gently guided her over to the unit, ready to hoist the overhead door open for her once she removed the padlock.

“You’ve done so much for her.”

Adrien looked down to see Marinette’s mother standing at his side, a smile on her face. “She’s never found so much support as she has in you. I’ve watched her make leaps and bounds in her healing because of it. So thank you. I like having my daughter back.”

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck, uncertain yet flattered. “I’m not sure how much I could have helped.”

“Having you walk with her how you healed, it’s helped her so much. There was no way we would be out here today if it wasn’t for you. It seems like she’s finally found a support, and that girl,” she looked to the unit where Marinette was twisting a key in the lock. “When she finds a steady launching point, she soars.”

Adrien turned his attention to Marinette, where she was standing with an open lock in her hands while her father pushed open the door.

The woman patted his arm then walked forward to the now open unit, ready to help her daughter tackle the project.

It was a small unit, but there were a lot of boxes and bins and a handful of furniture. Adrien helped Nino and her father—Tom, he learned, and Sabine was Marinette’s mother—load up the furniture into the back of the van. By the logo on the side, Adrien guessed it was the store delivery van, but it did the job well.

Then to the boxes. Art supplies, Adrien quickly realized. Art supplies and fabric and finished pieces and sketchbooks galore. A few of those were squeezed into the van, but most of it was packed in Nino’s SUV.

And when there was barely any room left, they still had canvases.

“Nathaniel’s work,” Alya whispered in Adrien’s ear.

“All one hundred and sixty-eight pieces,” Nino mentioned, watching as Marinette reached for the first crate of them.

“Hunny,” Sabine said, approaching Marinette. “There isn’t any room left in the vans.”

“I can’t leave them here.”

“We’re not. We just have to come back for them.”

“I can’t leave them here.”

Adrien’s heart broke. He put a hand on Nino’s shoulder. “Go take all that to… wherever it goes. I’ll stay here with her.”

“I can stay,” Alya spoke up.

“No, I’ll stay, Adrien said. “Let me help her through this.”

Alya stared at him wide-eyed for a second before her gaze softened. “Okay.”

Sabine and Marinette were now on the ground, Sabine’s hand on her daughter’s knee while she spoke soothingly.

Adrien walked up to Marinette’s side. “May I?” he asked, pointing to the ground beside her.

Marinette nodded, wiping tears away with the palm of her hand while she choked out a couple sobs.

Adrien sat down beside her. “Alya and Nino are going to go unload all the furniture and boxes, and then they’ll come back to get the canvases.”

“But—”

“We’re going to stay right here,” he interrupted, placing a hand on her knee and giving a comforting squeeze. “Until they come back with empty vans, okay?”

She looked at him a long moment. “Okay.”

He gave her a smile. “Okay.”

Sabine flashed him a grin of her own. “I guess it would go faster if I went to help. We’ll be back as soon as we can.”

“Okay.”

Sabine stood then bent over to kiss the top of her daughter’s head. “We’ll be back.” With that, Sabine walked to the van, and once she was inside, they soon disappeared from sight.

Adrien was content to sit in silence for a little while, but Marinette stared at the ground, eyes hazy and distant.

“May I?”

It took a moment for Marinette to come back to reality, to lift her absent gaze from the cement ground to him. “What?”

“Would you mind if I looked at his work?”

Marinette stared at him blankly, eyes wide and blinking quickly.

“I mean, we’re going to be here a while,” Adrien continued. “And I’m curious about his artwork.”

“I…” Marinette struggled. “I mean… I guess.”

“Only if you’re sure.”

She paused, gaping like a fish out of water. “I… okay.”

Adrien gave her a reassuring smile, then stood and opened up the closest crate. From there, he saw all the canvases that had been carefully covered in plastic. He opened one to reveal…

Wow.

He had to take a moment to stare at it, to truly appreciate the piece before dragging Marinette into this. He didn’t just ask for no reason. He knew full well that facing these memories was healthy. Maybe it hurt like hell at points, but it was ultimately healing.

“Did he have reasons behind his paintings? Or did he just choose a subject he wanted to draw?”

“It depended,” Marinette answered. She stood from the ground so as to face the painting Adrien held in his hands. Her expression fell. “He loved his superheroes,” she sighed wistfully. “He loved creating characters and coming up with stories for them. But he also loved the old masters. We spent so much time at the Louvre, Nathaniel sketching the paintings and learning from them. His paintings were his way of combining his loves. He called that one Dark Cupid. It was supposed to emulate a cherub, but grown and villainized.”

“It’s incredibly well done,” Adrien commented. He marveled at it a little more before replacing the canvas back in the crate. He picked the next one and was greeted by a stone man holding a strange creature in the same way one would cradle a cat.

Marinette grinned fondly. “Ivan and Mylene. Friends of ours who got married soon after Nathaniel and I did. Nath did another painting of them after they had a baby, only to add another one a year later when he found out they were expecting again.”

“Why the stone monster and… alien?”

“Ivan was large, stoic, and imposing. Nathaniel used to sit behind him because Ivan always hid the fact Nath had his nose in a sketchbook instead of writing notes. But Ivan always had a soft spot for Mylene who played an alien hunter in a short film our class made for a film festival.”

Adrien put the canvas away, only to take out yet another. As the pattern continued, Adrien was realizing that Nathaniel had transformed all of his classmates in one way or another, placing them in some sort of a masterfully painted yet emotive scene.

“Alright,” Adrien said, smile on his face as he put away one depicting a steampunk girl in a clock tower. “Last one.”

By now, Marinette was grinning. Supposedly, that was because she had designed the outfit for the pink-haired girl, but Adrien knew it was more than that. “Okay. I don’t know how he organized them so it will be in—”

Adrien hadn’t even fully taken the canvas from the plastic when she abruptly stopped, her smile quickly fading as her eyes widened and pink quickly flooded her cheeks.

“What is—”

Adrien didn’t finish that sentence. It took only a second to realize why she’d had that reaction.

They stood, each frozen and unmoving as they stared at the canvas.

“Wow,” Adrien eventually said.

“I never saw it finished,” she said.

“It's beautifully done.”

“…Yeah,” Marinette agreed, her voice near breathless.

Adrien couldn’t help but stare. On the tip of his tongue was the question he’d asked for every picture, but at the forefront of his mind, he realized that maybe he should respect Marinette by replacing the picture in its sleeve and place it back in the crate. But he couldn’t. The red in the picture was too bright. Too striking. Flowing every which way around her as though she was weightless. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, not when midnight hair tied with red ribbons floated around a heart-shaped face and blue, blue eyes that were brightened by a sweet, inviting smile were staring up at him.

“It was Valentine’s day,” she whispered, unable to get her voice to come out any stronger. “I was never an early bird, but Nathaniel loved morning lighting. So I set my alarm early so I would wake and have time to put on that dress and do my hair before sunrise. When he asked what I was doing, I told him that I was going to be his model for the day. It was his surprise. He posed me in a handful of ways and went back and forth between a camera he set up and mixing paint colors. He rarely used a camera—he always preferred painting from life when he could—but he said he wanted to capture that moment, the lighting, my pose. Which was nice because I realized just how hard it was standing still for such a long period of time.”

Adrien smirked. “You get used to it.”

He watched her eyes focus back on him, a small gleam sparking in them when she smiled. “Really?”

“No.”

He inwardly cheered when she huffed a laugh, her smile splitting for just a moment before fading back to a small grin.

Adrien returned the painting to its sleeve. That’s when he caught a red scribble on the stretcher bar. Lady in Red. Nathaniel Kurtzburg. Dated two years ago, three days after Valentine’s.

Adrien glanced back up at Marinette. She was still every bit as beautiful as she was in the picture, whether dressed in an oversized sweater and jeans or a form-fitting red dress and ribbons.

“Would you like to see Chloe’s?”

Adrien froze, his mouth suddenly growing dry while his heart slowed. “He painted one of Chloe?”

Marinette nodded. “He did. Chloe may not have been our favorite person, but he did paint her. Let’s try to find it.”

His heart drummed an unsteady rhythm. “Are you sure you’re okay digging through the boxes?”

She looked up at him, her eyes open and vulnerable. “It’s easier than I thought it would be.”

Suddenly, there was a new reason as to why his heart was sputtering and tripping inside his chest.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “For being here.”

Before he could figure out how to respond, the rumble of an approaching van called their attention.

“Oh,” Marinette said, her shoulders falling. Adrien suddenly realized just how much of an energy burst she’d gotten. “I… I guess they’re back.”

“It’s okay,” Adrien assured. “You can show me later.”

Marinette fidgeted. “Um… would… would you, instead of game night, maybe… like to come over? I’ll show you the rest of the pieces?”

Adrien’s heart sputtered to a stop, but before he could remotely formulate an answer, Nino appeared at Marinette’s side. “How you holding up?”

“Fine,” she said. “Just… going though old memories.”

Nino stared at the open crate, his eyes slowly widening. “You’re looking through them?”

“Adrien was curious,” she said as an excuse.

Nino continued to look at her, and she gave him a smile. It was dull and tired, but it was a smile. “It’s okay.”

He grinned down at her, looping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her in for a hug.

“Nathaniel was a great artist,” Adrien spoke up.

“For sure!” Nino agreed.

“I told him he needed to show his work,” Alya said, appearing at Marinette’s other side, “but he always turned me down.”

“He should have,” Adrien agreed. “His paintings are fantastic. The style and the subject matter makes for a really interesting mix.”

Nino nodded. “Yeah, but they always looked really cool.”

That’s when the second van showed up, signaling the arrival of Marinette’s parents.

“I think we agreed that these were going to go in their van,” Alya said. “That way Marinette could just head home with them.”

Marinette nodded. “That sounds good.”

They made short work of loading the crates as well as a few other boxes of paperwork. Before long, all that was left to do was for Marinette to go to the office and officially end her lease.

Nino and Alya gave her hugs and bid her well before taking off. Then it was Adrien’s turn.

“Thank you for coming,” she told him. “I really appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. “And for the record, I’d love to postpone game night to look through the artwork. I’m really curious to see more.”

“Okay,” she said. “This Wednesday?”

“Yeah. Sounds good.”

“Okay,” Marinette said, her cheeks taking on a slight rosy hue. “I look forward to it.”

They stood there for a moment, neither moving. Just as Adrien realized he should just head to his car, Marinette stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his torso. “You have no idea how much I appreciate you being here.”

He felt his face flame and his body stiffen under her touch, yet, he slowly found himself easing into her embrace until he was returning it tightly. “Anytime, Marinette. Anytime.”

She may not be on a date, but Marinette was still thankful that her parents decided to go out tonight. The last thing she needed was them spying on her like they did whenever Nathaniel came over in her teenaged years.

The doorbell rang, and Marinette bounded down the stairs to answer it. She quickly fluffed her hair and smoothed out her skirt before answering the door. “Hey.”

“Dinner,” he said raising up a plastic bag. “And wine.”

“Oh, fancy,” Marinette joked. “Come in.”

“Nino suggested a pasta place, so that’s what I got for dinner tonight.”

“And wine?”

“Actually, this is from my pre-Emma private stash that I haven’t broken into since… well, pre-Emma.”

Marinette chuckled. “Then it’s certain to be good.” She began digging through the kitchen to find utensils. “What did you get food-wise?”

“Chicken parmesan and a penne with sundried-tomato dish.”

“I’ll take that one.”

“Good. I kinda wanted the parmesan anyway.”

With a giggle, she pulled out two wine glasses to set on the table before going back to look for the corkscrew.

Only to not be able to find it.

“She never put it back,” she realized.

“Pardon?”

Marinette tapped the counter. “The corkscrew. My maman hid it away and never put it back.”

“Why would she hide it?”

Marinette felt her cheeks warm as she grinned wide in embarrassment. “There may or may not have been an incident with wine a while back.”

His grin was incredibly smug. “May or may not?”

“May or may not.”

He nodded slowly. “Was Marinette a fun drunk? You seem like the kind that’s gets all giggly—”

“And we’re dropping it!”

Adrien laughed hard.

Eventually, after he calmed down, Adrien resorted to other measures to open the bottle, leaving Marinette impressed albeit curious.

“I taught myself ways to open a wine bottle as party tricks. My father was not impressed.”

“Really? I thought he would be.”

“Not after an incident with champagne and a sabre at a very classy event.”

Marinette snorted.

Dinner was delicious and entertaining to say the least. Halfway through, Adrien was curious about Marinette’s dish and reached across the table to take a stab. He got away with it, smiling with a mix of pride and smugness while Marinette looked over at him with her jaw on the table. She tried to retaliate, only to have him stop her with his fork. This turned into a silverware war that ended when Marinette’s fork was thrown across the kitchen.

The giggle fit they dissolved into may or may not have been influenced by a glass and a half of wine.

By the time they were finished, Marinette did get a bite of Adrien’s dish, calling it spectacular and commenting that she wanted it the next time they ate there.

After they cleaned up, Marinette lead him into the living room where the crates of canvases were.

“Nino bought all the furniture,” she told him. “I just don’t have room for it. Besides, Alya liked it, so he’s storing it in his own unit until he and Alya find a place to move in to.”

“That’s kind of you. I know Alya will appreciate it since she’s told me time and time again how… run down his furniture is.”

Marinette scoffed. “That’s a nice way of putting it. Pretty certain he never replaced the hand-me-downs his family gave him when he moved out on his own.”

They picked a crate at random and began going through the paintings. One by one, Marinette told Adrien the brief backstories of them until they got to a woman with a flute who resembled a fox.

“Alya,” he realized.

Marinette nodded. “Nathaniel thought it fit. Both wild and sly.”

“It certainly fits,” he said, putting it back in the plastic. “Is there one of Nino?”

“Two, actually. One where he makes an appearance as a musician, and one as a turtle hero. After Alya and Nino became a couple, Nathaniel thought it was a perfect match because Nino was slow and steady to balance Alya’s wild.”

“No arguments from me.”

They continued through the crate until Marinette opened the last sleeve and saw the canvas painted in yellow. “I think this is it.”

“Which one?”

Marinette pulled out the painting of Chloe, painted as a queen decked in gold and black stripes. “Nathaniel called this one ‘Queen Bee’.”

She couldn’t read the expression on Adrien’s face as he studied the picture. His hand rested under his chin, and his green eyes were guarded. “He captured her perfectly,” he eventually spoke, his voice quiet. “She very much was a queen.”

Marinette nodded. “Yeah. She was a bit of a diva. But her painting was pretty.”

Adrien nodded, staring at it a while longer before tearing his eyes away. “Thanks for showing me.”

Slowly, she replaced the painting back in its sleeve. “You okay?”

Adrien nodded. “Yeah. It… it’s just still odd. To see pictures of her, that is.”

“Oh.”

“It all just happened so quickly, you know?” Adrien confided. “I’ve come to terms that she’s gone, so much so that I talk about her like a distant memory instead of a woman who was still a very big part of my life five years ago.”

Her heart twisted. It was very easy to forget that Chloe was Adrien’s wife. That he had obviously loved her a lot. That she was the mother of Emma. It was an odd disconnect because while Marinette recognized the similarities between Chloe and Emma, Emma was sweet as her father. And Adrien had been single for as long as Marinette had known him. There wasn’t any connection Marinette made between her school bully and her new favorite people in the world. It was easy to forget that Adrien… Adrien likely felt the loss of Chloe the same way she felt the loss of Nathaniel. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m so sorry. It never occurred to me it would be hard for you to see it.”

“It’s fine,” Adrien dismissed. “I wanted to see it. Really. It’s just… one of those things that hits you from nowhere, you know.”

Marinette nodded. “Yeah. I know.”

The somber aura stuck around for a while. Even when they got back to smiling, it wasn’t as bright as before.

“Thank you for this evening,” Adrien said when the time came for him to leave. “It was really enjoyable.”

“It was,” Marinette agreed. “Thank you for dinner.”

“You’re welcome.” After flashing her a smile, he reached for the door handle.

“Wait.” Marinette reached out to grab his hand, turning him back around to face her. “I’m sorry I never realized how hard it must have been for you to lose Chloe,” she started. “If you need anything, I’m here for you.”

His wide-eyed surprise melted into something soft and sweet. “Thank you, Marinette. That’s really kind of you.”

“You’ve done so much for me. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to thank you for it.”

He hesitated, then opened her mouth to say something but stopped. Instead, he closed his mouth and turned his head. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Anything for a friend.”

She knew that wasn’t really what he meant. She could read it on his face. But she wouldn’t push. “Okay.”

He gave her a smile and squeezed her hand.

And before she could think the better of it, she stepped forwards and engulfed him in a hug. “Just know I’m here if you ever need anything.”

His posture relaxed, and he soon wrapped her up in his arms. He was a good hugger. Steady, supportive, comforting. “Same goes for you, Marinette. I’m always here.”

“I know,” she said against his shoulder. “And I’m thankful for it.”

They stayed just like that a while longer before they eased out of the hug and they repeated their good-byes. With that, Adrien walked out into the cold, November night, Marinette watching him from the doorway.

When he turned to open the driver’s side door, he paused and caught her gaze once again. He flashed her a smile.

“Just returning the favor,” she called out.

His smile grew wide enough to light up the night. “You’re a gem, Mrs. Kurtzburg.”

“So are you, Mr. Agreste. So are you.”

#second chances #miraculous ladybug #ML #fanfiction #mlb fanfiction #dadrien #dadrien au #marinette dupain cheng #adrien agreste #alya cesaire #Nino lahiffe #sabine cheng #tom dupain #angst

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