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Chat Noir dropped down to Marinette's balcony as he had for weeks prior, but she wasn't there. Curious, he moved to the trapdoor, opened it, and waited to hear any sound or movement. All he heard was sniffling.
He frowned, that couldn't be right.
He plopped down onto Marinette's bed, his eyes finding her, trembling, shoulders hunched, face in her hands, knees pulled up against her tightly as she sat on her chaise. He cautiously walked to her, unsure of what to do.
Should he give her space? Should he stay? Leaving would leave him guilty, but if he was unwanted he didn't want to bother her. But he couldn't just leave her like that.
Slowly, he found his voice, "Marinette?"
The girl in question stiffened, hurriedly wiping her eyes before she looked up at him. She forced a small smile, but it looked more like a grimace. He knew that look too well, he'd mastered it. The fake smile.
"Hey, Chat, sorry I wasn't up on the balcony, it's a bit cold tonight." Her bottom lip trembled as though she was struggling to keep her breathing steady.
Chat softened. He sat down next to her, close enough to be able to comfort, and far away enough to give her space. He knew he wasn't good with comforting people, but he could at least try. "Marinette, it's ok to cry," he saw panic flash in her eyes and inwardly cursed at himself.
"You saw." She sounded resigned, almost ashamed, and it took all the willpower that was in him not to reach out and hug her. "I'm sorry you had to see me like that..."
Huh? "What? No! Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong, all that happened was that I saw you crying, I don't understand--"
"You saw me at a weak point! I'm not supposed to be weak, I'm supposed to be strong, but--" her breath caught, and she shook, losing composure as a small whine escaped her throat, "It's just so hard..."
As Marinette, strong, passionate, creative, loving Marinette, crumbled in front of him, Chat felt helpless. How could he possibly help her? He threw thinking out the window and went with instinct, wrapping his arms around her tightly and letting her sob into his chest. His heart broke with every ragged breath she took. What happened?
"Marinette, if you don't mind me asking, what's wrong?" She didn't reply for a while, trying to steady herself enough to speak. Chat slowly pulled away, just enough to look at her. "Princess?" he whispered, wiping away some of her tears, searching her eyes for answers.
She bit her lip, clearly hesitant, before he could take it back, or say anything else, she sighed. "There's this girl, her name isn't important, she keeps lying and getting away with it. At a certain point in time she even got me expelled, and the only thing she did to 'right the wrong' was more lying, saying she had a 'condition' that made her an impulsive liar." She took another shaky breath before continuing, but Chat already knew who the girl was. Lila. "She keeps lying her way through every goddamn day, and there's no way for me to prove her lies. My friends don't trust me anymore, and they don't understand that she only puts up a front for them." She paused again, her bottom lip trembling so much she looked as though she was about to fall apart, "And the only friend who does know won't say anything, he said that it would be enough if we knew. But how is that enough? She keeps hurting me, and I know he doesn't see it, but not only that she clings to him and he's clearly uncomfortable, why doesn't he say anything?"
By then Marinette fell completely apart, sobs raking through her body. She trembled violently, clutching fistfuls of blanket, looking away from him as though she were ashamed.
Lila. She was the cause of this. Of all of it. Of Marinette's pain, ruined reputation, damaged trust, and the sobs that echoed in his ears, louder and more gut wrenching than anything he'd ever heard.
And Chat knew, that part of it was his fault. Because if he hadn't been so naive, thinking that Lila would really stop after getting to cling to him and model with him, then Marinette wouldn't be in so much pain. There had to be a way to fix the problem, to expose Lila or get her into enough trouble that she couldn't go back to school. But what would he do? Lila was too clever, and Adrien? He couldn't even figure out his lucky charm from when he was Mister Bug if it weren't for Lady Noire's help.
Chat hugged Marinette tight against his chest, his anger and frustration building. He willed himself to calm down, to pay attention to the crying girl in his arms, to help comfort her. "I'm so sorry you have to go through that Marinette," he whispered. He had to do something. "I'm sure if your friend realized what happened, then they would've spoken up." He sighed. Part of this was his fault.
My fault.
He steadied his breathing that had suddenly became ragged. Not here, not now. He focused on Marinette, rubbing soothing circles on her back. In a way he was almost comforting them both.
My fault.
"You know what the worst part is?" she murmured so softly he almost hadn't heard, "The people who don't believe are mostly people I've known for almost my whole life, like Kim and Nino. Or my best friend, Alya."
My fault.
Chat didn't realize he was trembling. He didn't know how his breathing became ragged. He didn't realize until it was too late that hot tears were cascading down his cheeks. Only one thing was on his mind, My fault.
It wasn't until Marinette looked up at him, concern knitting her eyebrows, that he realized what was happening. He cursed at himself inwardly. This wasn't the time. He needed to comfort Marinette.
Stop it, you idiot, he chastised himself. Stop crying already. This isn't the time.
But every time he tried to stop himself, more tears came.
"Chat?" Marinette's fingers lightly touched his cheek, and it took everything in him not to lean into the gentle touch. When had he last felt something comforting like that?
"Marinette... I'm so sorry," he whispered. Because he was, and that was the only thing he could say.
"It's not your fault, silly," Marinette's expression warmed, tears almost completely gone, "It's not like you did anything wrong, and I don't think you're in my class, either. Why are you crying?"
But that was the problem, it was his fault, he did do something wrong, and he was in her class. He wanted to tell her, to show her that he was Adrien all along, but he was so scared to how she would react, and of course Ladybug would be livid.
He couldn't find words to say, how was he supposed to explain? But he didn't have to, Marinette just wrapped her arms around him, a hand playing idly with his ear, comforting him. "I guess superhero stuff can take its toll on you, huh?" It didn't seem like a question.
My fault.
Chat pulled away, wiping his tears quickly, keeping his composure. "I have to go," he said, voice surprisingly hoarse. Marinette nodded, letting go of him. "Will you be ok?" He was opening the latch, about to step out onto the balcony. Marinette nodded again, but he couldn't help but feel she didn't speak because she didn't trust herself to do so without crying. In all honesty, he wasn't sure how he was. "Alright, well, bye." He stepped up, closing the trapdoor behind him.
If it weren't for his heightened senses, he wouldn't have heard the sniffle as he vaulted away.
A plan.
That's what Adrien needed. And it was that that kept him up through the night, not that he would've gotten much sleep anyway. By the time dawn subsided to day, he'd figured out what he would do. But he wasn't sure if he was completely comfortable with it. But he had to, he couldn't keep everything to himself anymore.
He got to school early, walking into the locker room to set up everything as usual. He stayed there for longer than usual however, because of his jitters.
I have to do this, for Marinette, he reminded himself.
Before he knew it, he was seated in Principal Damocles's office. He took a deep breath, he could do this. "Principal Damocles, I have a concern regarding Lila."
The principal raised an eyebrow at the seventeen-year-old boy seated in front of him, "Is that so?"
Adrien nodded slowly, "You see, with her...condition," he hated saying that, "her lies may not be in her control, so we never know if she is tell the truth or not. And since this hurt Marinette, I think we should be more careful."
"I completely agree, Adrien," a voice came from behind him. "In my point of view, everything she says is bull-- er, not true." Adrien turned to find Ms. Mendeleieve closing the door behind her. "But, I've also seen she seems to be a bit... Touchy with you. Are you ok with it?"
Adrien paled. That wasn't part of the plan.
He thought back to Lila, gripping his arm tight, tightening her hold if he ever tried to move away. Being a model, he had been used to being touched, but they were poses and not once was there any motives behind them. With Lila, it was different. It was almost as though when she held his arm, he was her possession. Not a free human being, just a toy.
Adrien sallowed thickly.
"Adrien, is this true?" his principal asked.
Adrien slowly lifted his gaze to him, "W-well, it is..."
"And are you ok with it?" Ms. Mendeleieve questioned.
Adrien shook his head slowly.
He watched his teacher's lips tighten in a thin line as she shook her head. "Adrien, you realize that this can be classified as sexual harassment, right?"
"Oh," the boy croaked. His throat felt dry. This wasn't part of the plan at all.
"Look, Adrien, if you're not comfortable around her, we can arrange to move her out of your class or something, to keep her away from you. Depending on the extent of what she's done, it can be suspension or expulsion," Ms. Mendeleieve contemplated.
"Oh." Expulsion?
What would his father think if he got Lila expelled? Clearly he liked working with her, but he also liked nothing short of perfection. Would it ruin her career? Would it ruin whatever was left of his relationship with her father?
"Well, we have much to discuss, class is starting soon," Principal Damocles said. Adrien took it as his cue to go, managing a weak thank you as he left, closing the door behind him.
Frick.
Adrien found himself in the bathroom, locked into a stall. How he had gotten there, he didn't really remember. His limbs had moved on their own accord. Adrien was shaking, and he felt a bit nauseous. His head pounded, thoughts swirling around his mind.
Frick.
Expulsion? Lila would get expelled? Sure, he was uncomfortable around her and she touched him too much, but getting her expelled would just make everything worse. This was the exact reason he hadn't spoken up before, the trouble he would cause.
Frick.
He thought he'd planned everything perfectly, but clearly he hadn't. That was probably why he never did any of he planning in akuma attacks. Was he really that useless?
Frick.
Sexual harassment? He didn't think it was that bad. Lila held his arm pretty tight, leaving bruises often times, but bruises healed and went away. It's not like they hurt too bad, or were bothering him too much. He didn't think what Lila did to him, the seemingly innocent touches, could be seen as something so extreme.
Frick.
"Kid? Adrien!" Plagg was frantically zipping around in front of him, "Adrien, you need to snap out of it, or else you'll be targeted by an akuma!"
Frick.
Adrien blinked rapidly, getting rid of any moisture that accumulated at the corners of his eyes. Slapping himself a few times, he brought himself back to reality. He couldn't afford getting akumatized, Ladybug needed him.
It was no surprise that Adrien got called into his father's office once he got home. He'd barely had time to place his bag down before Nathalie knocked on his door to let him know. Walking down the stairs, he felt a nervous lump in his stomach, but Adrien had to force a cool façade. He couldn't afford to lose it in front of his dad. That would be short of perfection, and his father never accepted a thing short of perfection from his perfect, model son.
Adrien didn't expect his father to actually regard him after Nathalie closed the door, looking up from his tablet, an undecipherable emotion in his eyes. Was it...concern?
"The school called me," his father said in his usual monotonous voice. "I heard about what Lila did to you, touching you and making you feel uncomfortable. I made sure they expelled her."
Adrien gawked at his father, but quickly clamped his mouth shut. He wanted to say something, to try and say how Lila didn't deserve it. But while she may have not deserved it for bothering Adrien, she did for hurting Marinette.
Gabriel Agreste continued, "She will no longer be modeling with you. I cannot have someone who has been expelled and makes my son uncomfortable modeling for my brand." Adrien noted how he mentioned that fact that she got expelled first. His father's eyes softened slightly as he regarded Adrien, "Please tell me if anything like this happens again." His usual demeanor returned almost immediately, "Anyway, I'm busy designing this line, you may be dismissed."
Adrien gave his father a small nod then turned around on his heel, running up he stairs two at a time. He had to see Marinette. As soon as he was in his room, he transformed, bounding across rooftops.
Once he landed on a familiar balcony, he found a cheerful Marinette sitting there waiting for him. She beamed at him, "Adrien spoke up, and apparently whatever he said got Lila expelled." Chat let out a small, relieved sigh. She didn't know why, that was good. "You should've seen her! She was so mad when she left the principal's office, you could almost see the smoke fuming from her ears and nostrils. It's a miracle she didn't get akumatized."
He smiled at her, "Well I'm glad that got sorted out."
"But..." Marinette frowned, "I'm not sure why he suddenly changed his mind."
"Er... I may have had something to do with that."
"You did?" Marinette grinned at his, lunging at him and wrapping her arms around his tightly. If it weren't for the protection of his suit, he may have been crushed to death. "Chat, you're the best!"
What happened next was unexpected.
Marinette's lips pressed against his, quite hard too, and he couldn't help but melt, reciprocating. Her hands moved to bury in his hair, tugging slightly, earning a purr. Chat's arms tightened around Marinette, pulling her closer until they were flushed against each other. It was his first kiss (as far as he could remember), and as messy as it was, he couldn't help but feel it was perfect.
When they pulled apart, breathless, his cheeks were flushed and possibly a darker red than Ladybug's suit. Marinette's cheeks were also a dark shade of crimson, and he couldn't help but feel a tad bit smug that he'd done that to her. Though breathless, Marinette giggled a bit, pulling him down for another quick kiss.
"You're still purring," Marinette mused.
Chat Noir blinked at her, slowly realizing the sound vibrating out of his throat, "Oh." He gaze her a sheepish, lopsided smile, which earned him another quick peck. It looked like luck was on his side that night.
"It's cute when you purr."
"Oh."
Wasn't night time supposed to be chilly?
Marinette smiled warmly at him, but her smiled faded as they heard her mother call her name. "Well, I gotta go now, bye kitty." She waved as she went down into her room and to wherever her mother was.
As Chat Noir stood there, in a daze, he came to the slow realization that Marinette may not be "just a friend" anymore.