Work Text:
In the early hours of an ordinary day, on an ordinary street in Paris, a not-so-ordinary girl briskly approached a small boutique, shifted a coffee cup from hand to hand and unlocked the door. She flipped the sign on the door to Open and dropped a stack of notebooks and paper on the counter near the back, tucking her purse beneath it.
“Bonjour, Monsieur Pierre!” she said in greeting, passing through to the shop’s rear work area. The headless male torso, adorned with a partially complete dinner jacket, was silent.
“Bonjour, Marinette,” she said, voice deepening. “You’re in early today, mademoiselle.”
She lifted the jacket lapels, thumbs tracing the embroidery. “I finished the design for your jacket,” she continued brightly, and buttoned the jacket. “I think you’ll like it. And what’s more ,” she spun to the complementary female torso across the room. “I’ve designed your matching dress, Mademoiselle Antoinette!” Her smile practically beamed. “I can’t wait to get started on it. I know you’ll love it! You’ll catch Pierre’s eye yet!”
Marinette returned to the front of the store and tidied the items she had on display. She swapped a few garments in the window, taking out the emerald gown and replacing it with a pale yellow blouse and black skirt combination. She viewed the ensemble from the street front, nodded, and returned inside. Glancing around, she nodded again and lifted her notebook, carrying it to the back. She grabbed the jacket and carefully set it on the table of the sewing machine, glanced at her design, and set to work.
Two plus hours later, the electronic door chime sounded, and she stood from the table. “I’ll be right there!” she yelled. She closely examined the new embroidery on the jacket as she returned to the front, the customer’s voice carrying back.
“Take your time! I’ll just look around.”
Marinette glanced up as she passed through the curtained doorway, just seeing the top of a blonde head disappear behind one of the center racks. “Please! Feel free to look around. Let me know if you have any questions.” She looked back down at the jacket, still examining for any errors or imperfections. She heard the clack-clack-clack of the woman walking around a bit.
“Marinette. Dupain. Cheng.”
Marinette froze, forcing herself to take a deep breath. She knew that voice. Mon dieu , she had hoped never to hear it again. She slowly raised her head to meet her customer’s eyes, fighting to keep them from narrowing.
“I should have known this shop would be yours!” Chloe Bourgeois stood a few feet away, a broad smile on her face, arms spread as if gesturing to everything about them.
“Madamoiselle Bourgeois! What a… surprise!” She hoped the pause wasn’t noticeable.
She hoped wrong, but Chloe’s reaction did surprise her, as her smile faltered and slowly fell, as her arms did the same. Her hands came together, and she fidgeted, one playing with the other. “Please,” she said, much more softly, “call me Chloe.”
Neither said anything for a beat, an awkward moment. “How can I help you, Chloe?” Marinette finally broke the silence.
“I- I saw the blouse and skirt in the window,” she said, voice still soft and wavering. She was looking at her hands. “I thought…” Her reticence confused Marinette. Chloe suddenly turned. “I should go.”
“Yellow always did look good on you.” Marinette rounded the counter and caught up to the frozen woman, taking her elbow. “Let’s see if you like it.”
Marinette took the window-dressing mannequin down so Chloe could better look at the pieces. “I think it would fit you with very few alterations,” Marinette said, talking mostly to fill the silence. “This overlay is silk, but the base I wanted more breathable so it’s-”
“I’m so sorry, Marinette.”
The words, and the gentle tone, froze the designer in place. She slowly turned her head. “Chl- Chloe?”
The blonde looked on the verge of tears. “I was a horrible, horrible person to you, for no good reason, for years .” She waved a hand at her eyes, and yelped as Marinette ushered her to a stool behind the counter. Chloe laughed. “Here I am apologizing for treating your terribly, and you’re the one comforting me.” She laugh-sobbed, and then took a deep breath.
The two sat in silence, Marinette surprising herself when she realized she was holding Chloe’s hands.
“You made friends so easily,” she murmured. “Everyone liked you , not what you could get them, or who your parents were and ohmygodthethingsIsaidaboutyourfamily! ” She covered her face with her hands. “I don’t blame you for hating me,” she muffled through her hands.
“Chloe. Chloe ,” Marinette said, pulling down her former classmate’s hands. Chloe’s face was flushed, and she didn’t meet the other girl’s eyes. “I don’t hate you.” Chloe gaped, and Marinette laughed. “I’ll be honest, you’re not my favorite person in the world, but I don’t hate you.” Chloe joined with her own small laugh.
“Do- Do you think you would ever be able to forgive me?”
The blonde’s voice was so soft, Marinette’s brain took a moment to correctly interpret what she had said. In all the years they had gone to school together, in all the years they had fought together as Ladybug and Queen Bee (even if only Marinette knew that), she had never seen Chloe seem so vulnerable.
“I forgave you a long time ago, Chloe,” she said softly, and she was surprised to realize she had. “I knew- I know you had a lot of things you were dealing with, and that can make us all act and react in different ways. Yes, I forgive you.” She hugged the blonde’s head to her shoulder, and let her sniffle there for a minute or two.
When Chloe pulled away, she gave a small laugh. “There was a time I rationalized our relationship in my head by considering you my brutally honest best friend. Can you believe that?
It was Marinette’s turn to gape now. “Really?”
Chloe laugh-sniffled. “Yeah. There- there was no one’s opinion I held higher for a while.”
Marinette giggled, and soon the two of them were actually laughing together. “I had really messed up socialization skills, didn’t I?”
As the laughing died, Chloe squeezed their hands. “Do- do you think we could actually… be friends?”
Marinette smiled and stood, pulling the blonde with her into a hug.
“I think I’d really like that, Chloe. I think I’d really, really like that.”