Chapter Text
She awoke after an hour or two, or was she out cold for more? She didn’t know. All that she knew was that the familiar hues of blue turned into greens and purples, and soon enough, they’d all melt into the grey she loves so much. She blinked once, twice, before she broke out of the moment of stillness. Chloé’s attempt to move her legs ever so slightly, however, sent a jolt of pain that resonated throughout her whole body. She hissed, plopping herself back down onto the cold hard ground. Wait. The surface itself felt cobbled, and surprisingly rough to the touch. Her hand traveled upwards and downwards desperately, as if Chloé still struggled to understand where exactly she was. Panic began to eat away at her lungs once again and every sharp intake of air she took, only seemed to make matters worse. Her lungs hurt, her hands hurt, her legs hurt and her head…fuck it hurts like hell.
And yet, in the midst of it all, only one thing had her mind in shambles in the blink of an eye.
“Marinette!” She immediately pushed herself up on her elbows, even if every tiny movement could possibly have her hollering in pain. Chloé’s eyes desperately searched her surroundings. The place she found herself in was covered in moss and unkept bushes, unruly vines making their way down from the stoic stone rooftop that sat itself on the few grand pillars that stood tall still. However, the beautiful archways of the pavilion itself wasn’t what she was focused on, no, it was the worried bluenette that swiftly made her way towards the heiress that had her heart throbbing in her chest painfully. Her breath caught in her throat as tears stung her eyes. She cursed herself internally.
“Chloé…” She whispered, kneeling down near the blonde as she tried her best to keep the tears that threatened to fall, at bay. “Are you okay? How are you feeling?” The words, the look on her face, the way her deep blue eyes searched for an answer deep inside her own icy ones, all of it made something inside Chloé snap as she suddenly lunged forward, forgetting about the sharp pain that overtook her whole body as she embraced her tightly.
Marinette was taken aback, of course, who wouldn’t be? She just stood still, arms slowly wrapping themselves around the blonde as she gently nestled into her. Chloé noticed the hesitation, she also understood it completely, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt her as much as it did. She just sighed, disentangling her limbs from hers before plopping herself back down onto the rough surface.
“What the fuck happened?” She covered her eyes with the back of her hands, ignoring the ache that slowly but surely crept up her leg. The bluenette could only cringe at her words, as her mind suddenly filled with the events that occurred prior to her carrying the blonde all the way to the pavilion.
“W-Well…just how much do you remember? Gotta know where to start the story, right?” She joked, forcing a half hearted chuckle out of her in a fruitless attempt to lighten up their moods. Chloé only groaned, uncovering one of her eyes before glaring up at the bluenette.
“Enough to know you’re Ladybug, or whatever. No more bullshit, Dupain-Cheng. Just tell me what happened.” Marinette visibly gulped as Chloé started slowly but surely getting up again. She looked down at her legs and the sight made her grit her teeth. While she was out cold, Marinette most definitely wrapped a splint around her faulty leg, she looked after her all while no earlier than a few hours ago she was spewing the most hideous things at her. Chloé chewed the inside of her cheek as the bluenette sucked in a breath.
“Okay… shit, well.” She chuckled humorously, letting herself fall down beside the blonde. The sudden closeness didn’t help her in the slightest. “I fucked up big time, Chloé. First, I let Paris fend for itself while I went out on a vacation in the Alps. Can you imagine that? Ladybug, local superhero, protector of Paris, taking some time off from saving citizens from akumatizations. Unheard of, right? This is the consequence of my actions and I am so sorry, you have no idea. If only I hadn’t been here, none of this would have happened. You wouldn’t have had to put up with me as a roommate, you wouldn’t have been stuck with me for hours on end trying to teach me shit…” She gulped and Chloé’s heart clenched painfully. “…most importantly, you w-wouldn’t have b-been hurt…I’m….I’m a fuck up, Chloé.” Marinette finally choked out and the heiress had to restrain herself from throwing her arms around her once again, she figured she wouldn’t let go as easily as she did before. She just gently placed her hand on top of her shaking one. She officially made Marinette cry for the millionth time and she wasn’t sure she could ever forgive herself for this one particularly. Her eyes were red and puffy, as if she had been crying not too long before as well. It hurt. It actually hurt to see her like this.
“Nonsense.” She gave her delicate hand a gentle squeeze. “It wasn’t your fault, it was nobody’s, except that one motherfucker who sat in the middle of the slope, he’s the one that deserves to be trampled by a herd of horses. You’ve done nothing wrong. And you know what, you’re not just some sort of superhero, you have an identity under that stupid mask of yours. You’re a teenager, you deserve a break. Leave it to Chat Noir for a change…I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.” She trailed off, using her free hand to wipe away a stray tear that rolled down her freckled cheek. “Just don’t say that ever again, you’re anything but a fuck up, Marinette. You’re a klutz, even a huge idiot sometimes, but not a fuck-up, okay?” The bluenette just watched her intently, not uttering a single word as the blonde’s hand caressed her cheek. Teary eyed and trembling, she could only smile. Chloé smiled back.
“You still got hurt, asshole.”
“I’d do it again.” Marinette sighed, carefully wrapping her arms around the blonde as night fell upon them. Tiny speckles of light dusted the cold, dark sky and the chilly mountain air only reminded her just how much she loved this time of day. She breathed in, Marinette’s fresh linen scent filling her lungs. Chloé could finally say she felt at peace, she felt content with the circumstances she found herself in. Yes, her bone may have been fractured and once again, yes, she probably wouldn’t be able to walk for some time, but in her eyes, it was worth the suffering. And yet, as if the divinities somehow heard how at ease she felt, they made sure to ruin everything by having one certain thing occur at the worst of times.
They taunted her, laughed in her face as thunder rumbled above their heads and Chloé’s eyes widened in shock. Heavy, grey clouds gathered up in the sky and the heiress’ heart caught in her throat. She suddenly felt as if she was inhaling needles that prickled at her lungs with every breath she took. Her thoughts messily tumbled into an abyss, a motionless void and she found herself not knowing what to do anymore. She just curled up into Marinette’s arms, ignoring the sharp pain that jolted up in her leg.
“Fuck, n-no….no, no no no, not now. Why now?!” She yelled out, muffled screams reverberating throughout the pavilion that protected the two from the raging storm that shook the woods surrounding them. To say she was scared would be an understatement, she was terrified. The storm didn’t even seem like it was easing up, there was no more peace and quietness, the wind just howled eerily, rocking the branches with the force of a thousand men.
“Wh-what’s up, Chloé? What happened?” Marinette questioned, deep blue orbs meeting icy ones for half a second before she realized what was going on before her very eyes. With just a few moments to process the situation, she swiftly covered her ears, smiling down softly at her as if to reassure her that everything would be okay. The bluenette pressed her forehead against Chloé’s, making sure to instruct her clearly on breathing techniques, yelling out every syllable as if trying to drown out the echoing strength from above. “Focus on my voice, Chloé! Just focus on my v-voice! I’m here, I’m not going anywhere!” Breathe in time with me, okay? Six seconds in, hold, b-breathe out. Simple as can be, right?” She was so sure of herself, every word she spoke out felt like an anchor, stabilizing the blonde ever so slowly. Her heart hammered inside her chest but she obliged, trying her best to keep up with the bluenette’s pace as she grounded herself. “Breathe in! And out! You’re doing so well, keep it up!” Marinette’s reassuring words filled her ears and all of a sudden all that she could hear was the sweetness that coaxed her voice. It almost drowned out the storm that roared outside their refuge. Almost.
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Minutes passed, maybe an hour, maybe less, but the storm quickly turned into leaves rustling ever so slightly as the wind howled right past them. Chloé was nestled in Marinette’s arms still, breath evened out, eyes focused on the splint the bluenette had crafted just for her. Being craddled back and forth calmed her down more than the pills they would have given her back home (and for that she was so thankful, the pills were disgusting). She still hasn’t found her voice to speak, but the silence was too comfortable to break, so they just sat together, sharing warmth.
It was well past midnight at that point but it’s not like either of them could do anything about the situation they found themselves in. Marinette had tried to locate the resort before, jumping from branch to branch, climbing up trees to the very top and almost falling, all while searching for any type of reference point that would bring them back home to no avail. They were lost, all alone in the middle of the forest and Chloé felt more useless than ever. Her wounded limb left her unable to do anything to help the two and that irritated her that much more.
“What are you sulki-“ Marinette yawned mid sentence.”-sulking for?” She questioned, quirking an eyebrow in her direction before resting her chin on top of the blonde’s head. The heiress thought of swatting her away for a moment (of course, she didn’t, she liked the warmth she radiated a tad bit too much).
“Shut up and do your superhero shit, Dupain-Cheng, I actually miss those crusty bed sheets.” She bit, but the words themselves lacked the usual venom that coated them. Whatever. It’s not like she wanted them to hurt in the first place, she never really meant to make them sound the way they did. They just came out before Chloé could swallow back her harsh words. But this time, she promised herself it would be different. They were making progress. Or so she thought, she didn’t actually know. She sure hoped they were.
“We’re back to Dupain-Cheng again?” She giggled, the joyous sound reverberating throughout Chloé’s whole being. She sighed deeply, she finally felt content. That’s when a blinding light shone in their faces and reality hit her like a car going 100 mph on a highway. She would’ve scrambled to her feet (God, she really wanted to), but the small ache in her ankle that sparked upon her shifting away from Marinette stopped her from even giving it another thought. The moderately tall figure halted in their tracks, the beacon of light shaking ever so slightly in their hand.
“I found them! They’re over here!!” They shrieked, setting their backpack down with a loud thud as they swiftly started digging through it. Soon enough, where once stood a hooded figure now stood Kim, the one person Chloé didn’t expect to see ever in her life in such circumstances. But there he was, a worried look etched on his face as he searched relentlessly through his backpack. “We were looking all over the place for you two, holy shit we were so worried…” Kim mumbled, taking ahold of two separate blankets as he approached the girls desperately. He wrapped them up in the softness of the fabric as it cascaded past Chloé’s shoulders. Her eyes light blue eyes were wide open in shock as she processed the sight in front of her. Were they all really worried for them? For me, especially? What a load of bullshit. She sighed deeply.
“Alright, whatever, Kim. Can you help me up? My ass hurts from sitting around here all day, waiting for you people to finally get us home.” She huffed. “Utterly ridiculous.” Marinette just shook her head in disappointment and Chloé couldn’t brush off the feeling that lingered after seeing the look on her face. Am I fucking this up already? She hoped she wasn’t.