Chapter Text
When she arrived at the apartment building, she felt completely numb.
She tipped the driver extra for putting up with her pathetic sobbing and slowly headed inside, feeling too drained of energy to care about the fact that the rain was currently soaking through her clothes.
When she arrived at the apartment, Liam was already asleep. She didn't waste time. Doing her best to remain quiet so as not to wake him, she immediately fetched a suitcase from the closet and started packing her things.
"Marinette?" a groggy voice said from behind her after a minute or so. "What are you doing?"
Marinette sniffed, her bottom lip quivering. She didn't turn around to face him as she spoke. "I'm packing."
She heard a ruffle of blankets as Liam climbed out of bed. "What? Why? Where are you going?"
She broke down again as a sob escaped her throat. "I'm sorry, Liam, I'm so sorry."
Liam flipped the light on and turned her around to face him, wiping the tears from her face for her. She wouldn't meet his eyes. "Sorry for what? What's going on?"
She sniffed once more and finally met his eyes. "I... Adrien and I kissed."
He stared unblinkingly at her, slowly removing his hands from her body. "You... what?"
"We kissed," she repeated. "And I regret it, obviously I do, but I can't change the fact that it happened, so... here." She slid the engagement ring off of her finger and dropped it into his hand.
He looked like he had been wounded. "You're... leaving me for Adrien?"
"No," she said. "I'm leaving you for you. When Adrien and I kissed, I realized that you were right. I do have feelings for him. And you deserve better than that. You deserve someone who will be truly devoted to you. Someone who will love you, and only you, without exception. And as much I wish that that could be me, it isn't. I'm sorry that I couldn't be that person for you, Liam. You have no idea how much I wanted to be that person."
Liam stared at her as she finished her speech, his sorrow turning to anger. "Are you kidding me? I knew you had a crush on him, I knew it, but you kept denying it!"
Marinette sniffed. "Liam, I'm sorry, and I know you're mad-"
"The whole time, you were just lying to me!"
"No, Liam, I-"
"Shut up," Liam yelled, his hand reaching out to knock over a glass lamp, which shattered on the floor between them. "Just shut up, Marinette. You swore to me that you didn't have feelings for him. I can't believe I actually trusted you!"
"I'm sorry," she sobbed once again, her heart racing. "I didn't mean for it to happen. I didn't-"
She was interrupted by his hand slapping her across the face.
She froze in shock, her own hand coming up to touch her stinging cheek. Liam grabbed her wrist, his grip tight.
"You don't get to do this," Liam insisted loudly. Marinette tried to yank her wrist out of his hand, but his grip only tightened. "You don't get to just lie to me for months and then destroy everything. Not after what I've done for you."
"Well, you don't get to hit me!" Marinette snapped, nearly shouting at this point.
He shoved her backwards into a wall.
"Do you realize how much I did for you?" Liam asked loudly, his face twisted into an angry scowl. "I let you be Ladybug again. I trusted you to work with Adrien without cheating on me. Did I make you stay away from him? No, I didn't. Did I ask you to quit your job rather than work for him? No, I didn't. Because I trusted you. And you betrayed me."
"You were trying to control me," Marinette raised her voice even more. "You can't dictate what I do with my life, no matter whether we're engaged or not."
"I was just trying to protect you because I care about you!"
"It doesn't seem like you care about me right now!" Marinette was screaming at this point as she finally took control and shoved him away from her, moving away from the wall. "They warned me about you, you know. They told me that your behavior seemed abusive, but I told them it wasn't true and that you would never hurt me, but I guess I was wrong."
"I hurt you?" Liam repeated incredulously. "You cheated on me! I have a right to be angry!"
"You never have a right to lay a hand on me like that."
His fist collided with her face, and she stumbled backwards.
"Enough," she screamed. "I have had enough. I can't believe I ever thought that you really loved me." With all her strength, she pushed him out of her way, grabed her bags- which she never finished packing- and stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her as tears streamed down her face.
She was intercepted by a neighbor in the hallway, and she stared at her feet, refusing to meet the woman's eyes.
"Are you okay?" the neighbor asked anxiously. "I heard you guys screaming in there- did he hit you?"
Marinette sniffed. "I'm fine."
"The police are already on their way, honey. Do you want-"
"I said I'm fine," Marinette snapped, tilting her head up to look at her.
She gasped. "He did hit you!"
Marinette's fingertips came up to feel the swollen spot just under her eye.
"Thank you for your concern," she said after a moment of silence. "But I'm fine."
Despite the woman's protests, she walked past her, heading down the hall toward the elevator.
On her way out the door, she passed three police officers running toward the elevator. Hot tears spilled down her cheeks, but she didn't stop to talk to them.
***
And she was back to sleeping in her office for the night.
Unlike the last time they broke up, Marinette knew this one was permanent.
She would never go back to him. Not after he had shown his true colors.
The day after it happened, she told Daisy about what had happened with Adrien, and although Marinette knew she was thinking "I told you so," she would never actually say it. Not at a time like this.
She told her that Liam had been angry. She didn't tell her what he had done, but she knew that she could tell from looking at her bruised face and wrist. She had tried to cover up the marks with concealer, but she hadn't been very successful.
Daisy offered her the couch in her apartment until she found her own place. She told her she could always talk to her if she needed it. Marinette accepted the offer, thankful to have a shoulder to cry on.
She didn't see Adrien again until about three weeks after the breakup. He had come to Supernova to pick up something that he left by accident when they ran into each other in the hall. By that point, the bruises had healed some, and she was mostly able to hide them with makeup.
"Marinette," he greeted her awkwardly. The tension between them was high. "Look, I- I'm sorry about what happened. I know that you're engaged, and I-"
"I was engaged," Marinette corrected him.
He paused. "What?"
"I was engaged. Now I'm not."
His mouth was hanging slightly ajar. "You..."
"I broke up with Liam," she explained.
She thought she could detect the tiniest glimmer of hope in his green eyes. She hated that she had to crush it.
"After... what happened, I realized that Liam and I aren't right for each other. After what you and Alya said about him, I've spent so much time trying to figure out if he really was right for me, and you helped me realize that he isn't." She took a deep breath. "So, I'm taking a step back from dating for a while. I need to focus on getting my life back on track. Finding a place to live that's not Daisy's couch. Figuring out what I want."
"Marinette..." Adrien breathed. "I am so sorry for doing this to you."
"You shouldn't be," she assured him. "I think I eventually would have figured out that we weren't as perfect together as I originally thought. You just helped me realize that sooner. Honestly, I'm just glad this happened before the wedding."
"Still. I'm sorry."
She nodded. "I know you are. But you don't need to be."
***
Adrien moved back to Paris two weeks later.
Marinette had to call all of her family and friends to inform them that the wedding had been cancelled.
Marinette didn't know where she would go from there. She didn't know where she would be in five years, or who she would be with, or if she would even be with anyone.
But she did know that, someday, she would find someone that was right for her. And she would be right for that someone.
They would find each other.
Someday.