Chapter Text
As soon as the clock struck 11 that night, Adrien was climbing out through his bedroom window, like a 15-year-old Cinderella. He wasn’t sure why, but after the last akuma, something had been off about his lady. So as any gentleman would, he offered to cover tonight's patrol on his own. Paris offered many breathtaking sights. The rooftops glistened in the moonlight. The stars were faint, barely visible, hidden mostly by the city lights.
I'm being selfish. I keep on putting everyone through this pain, and for what? No one can trust me anymore. The lies and the secrets continue piling up. It’s no wonder we broke up; it was only a matter of time, after all.
At a certain point she supposed that her relationship with Luka was filled with more lies then the truth. She had tried, she really had. Marinette knew Adrien didn’t like her, at least not in the way she wanted him to. She tried burying her feelings, to move on, and for a while, it worked. She was able to fall for Luka. To be his melody. But if it's not one thing, it’s another. He could tell that she was lying, that she was hiding something, but instead of getting angry, instead of being mad or upset, he kept it inside. He let it fester, all of his doubt and hurt, and then, and then, he was akumatized. She was thoughtless. She tried putting her social life before her duty as Ladybug, and the consequence was Paris being terrorized. Marinette wouldn't let this happen again. She was Ladybug first and foremost, and there are things that Ladybugs just couldn’t do. Still, as she looked up into the starless night with the clouds rolling in, she couldn't help but cry. Tears welled up. She wanted to scream, to cry, to curse the universe. This wasn’t fair; none of it was fair. But she couldn’t gather the nerve to speak. No curses to the universe were made. No pleas or requests... she knew they would be pointless. Instead, she stood upon her rooftop, with silent tears falling one by one. The universe owed Ladybug nothing, and it owed Marinette less.
The lights of Paris flickered silently. Chat could hear the gentle noises of the sleeping city. Late night taxis and midnight strollers roamed the streets of Paris. He liked to sit sometimes and survey the city streets from afar. He could see the school and, if he squinted, where André parked his cart every evening. Tonight, he saw Marinette.
I wonder what she's doing. It's already past midnight. Perhaps I should check up on her after how things went today.
Chat silently landed on the ledge behind Marinette. She seemed withdrawn. And even if she didn’t know it, Chat was her friend, and he felt that it was only right to check up on her after that last akuma. With a smile, he lifted his hand and placed it gently on her shoulder.
Marinettte’s reflexes kicked in. She didn’t know who the hell just touched her, but she wasn’t about to take the risk of politely asking a potential mass murderer or kidnapper who they were. She flung whoever-it-was over her shoulder and pinned them to the ground.
“Chat?”
What's he doing here? Naturally, it was just her luck that on the day she finally decided to let him give her a break, he still found a way to drag her into things. And of all ways to approach someone. Despite all the trust she has in her chaton, she was really starting to wonder if he had any common sense in that head of his.
“You scared the living daylights out of me!” She released him, flicking dust off her clothes.
“Sorry.” He flashed her an apologetic smile.
“You could have been a murder clown or something; you can't just sneak up on people like that.”
She reached out to help him up.
“Well, at least we know that you can defend yourself against any wannabe murderers in the area.” He let out an apologetic laugh.
“You're not hurt, are you?” Ladybug knew that their suits have handled far worse, but right now, she was Marinette.
“No, I’m purrfectly feline.”
"Why are you here, anyway? Shouldn’t you be on patrol or something? I highly doubt Ladybug would be pleased to hear that you're slacking off to sneak up on people.”
“I just wanted to see how you're doing. I doubt it’s easy seeing your boyfriend akumatized after- Have you been crying?”
“Wha- what would make you say that?” She quickly wiped under her eyes: Chat seeing her mascara running down her cheeks would be the cherry on her shit storm of a day. She looked at her hands: no transfer.
Thank goodness for waterproof mascara.
"Your eyes are puffy. What happened?”
"I-," she paused, not knowing quite what to say. Sure, Chat was Ladybug's best friend, partner, and other half, but he wasn’t Marinette's anything. Even so, she still wanted to tell him everything.
“It’s nothing.”
“Are you sure? I won’t pry, but you are obviously not okay.”
“Why would you care?” The question came out more pointed than Marinette had intended.
"Why not? I mean I don’t really have anything else to do right now; I just want to make sure you're okay before I go. I wouldn't want you to get akumatized or anything.” He let out a small smile. "And plus, what kind of gentleman would leave a lady alone when she obviously isn't well?”
“Promise not to tell anyone?”
“Chat’s honor.”
“All right, maybe, but could we go inside first? I think it's starting to rain.”
The irregular tip-tapping at the windows soothed him. Adrien sat down and took a moment to appreciate the melancholic song. He closed his eyes, wishing to engrave this moment of tranquility into his mind forever. It seemed to be just what was needed for the moment of tranquility to wash over them. He knew he couldn’t sit there forever, but he wanted to.
“I guess I'm just a bit overwhelmed.”
“Overwhelmed by what?”
“By everything, nothing? I'm just being stretched in so many different directions and I guess it was affecting my relationship with Luka. After everything that happened today, it just didn’t seem fair to him. Plus, having half of Paris declaring that your girlfriend is still hung up on a guy she never even dated isn’t- well, it isn’t good.”
“Wait, when did that happen?”
"Are you serious? You guys are the ones who fought Truth today.”
“Well, if it makes you feel better, I never heard a peep from anyone about a secret crush.”
“I suppose it does make me feel a bit better.”
“So what happened with Luka afterward?”
“He- he was kind about it. I had been lying to him, and to myself, and he still forgave me. He said he didn’t mind, and that he’d be there for me, but... It’s still not fair to him. So we broke up.”
It was quiet for a moment after that. Marinette looked down at the dark crescent moons that lined the beds of her fingernails, then stared blankly at the ceiling. It was plain and white, but at least it was something to look at, to focus on. It was better than acknowledging the look of pity on Cat's face. She began to take notice of the distinctive clumps in the paint strokes, and how they patterned her ceiling. Several varieties of white were painted on like masks to cover decades of water damage and repairs. They were like bad clones, ranging from eggshell to a more delicate greyish hue.
Huh, that’s kind of weird. How did I not notice that before?
The soft whispers of the rain gently tapped on the window. Marinette wished she could be the rain: every droplet falling with precision and purpose. The rain seemed to dance along the line between precision and improvisation.
Chat was the first to break the silence.
“What are you looking at?”
Marinette snapped back into reality, realizing that she had been staring into space for quite some time now.
“Nothing, really.”
“All right.”
The wind from outside had started to hiss and scream. Clouds littered the sky, drowning out any remaining remembrance light. The rain plummeted to the earth, sounding like beads scattering from a necklace being torn apart. Each struck the ground sharply, exploding on impact before being absorbed by the earth. But from inside the apartment, the roaring cries of the storm seemed like only the agitated meows of a grouchy house cat.
“Do-” Chat paused for a moment. He definitely wasn’t the best person to be giving out love advice right now. And he didn’t really have much experience with comforting people. Still, he wanted to try. It was the least he could do for Marinette. “Do you need anything?”
“Could-” Her voice seemed smaller than usual. "Could I have a hug?”
He reached over to hold her. She was tense as his arms wrapped around her. He was about to back away until he felt her go limp. She began to weep. Her face was crushed into a grimace. It was nothing like in the movies where their tears made their eyes shine, with a gentle kind of beauty. This was more than that. It was harsh and saturated with pain. He wished he could make it better: make her pain go away. He held on tighter, hoping that his being around would shield her from the outside world and its pain. He sat with her for a while, his arms a shelter from the external world, as she sobbed. Tears came out, one after another, like waves crashing down and consuming everything around them.