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The droplets of rain trickled gently down her face, mixing with the tears that had already gathered there. First, she loses Chat Noir and now she loses Adrien. How in the world is she meant to go on? She turns to watch him leave, already feeling her vision burn under the onslaught of fresh tears. Before she can even attempt to open her mouth to call after him, Alya rushes down the stairs towards her, shaking her shoulders roughly, “What is wrong with you, Marinette!? Couldn’t you see that he was just waiting for you to tell him to stay?!”
She turns to look at her best friend, stuttering slightly, “But... but... I... he made his choice. What did you expect me to do,” Marinette said softly, swallowing against the harsh lump in her throat.
“It doesn’t matter what I expected you to do! Who’s Adrien to you ! A friend or more than a friend!? There will never be a better time to be clear with yourself, Marinette. Do you want him to leave or do you want him to stay?” Alya glared into her eyes fiercely, practically demanding an answer from her.
“U-uh, I...” her lips parted as realization crashed into her. She couldn’t let him go. He was the love of her life! She had to help him. She couldn’t just let his father take him away! Turning away from Alya, she took off, shouting after him, “Adrien! Stay!”
All the feelings she had attempted to bury deep inside quickly rose back up. She loved him, she loved him, she loved him, and this time she would not let him run away from her. There just had to be something she could do!
“I already lost Chat Noir, I can’t lose Adrien too,” Marinette spoke to both of the kwamis in her purse quickly, pulling out her phone to call him only to watch it die before she could even press the button. With a strangled shout, she caught sight of a bike leaning against the sidewalk and an idea struck her. She had to get to him. She just had too! With one quick tug, Marinette hopped onto the bicycle, shouting after Adrien’s car as the storm raged on around her.
There was a moment when she thought she was going to slip. A brief, terrifying moment where she thought all hope was lost and she’d never get the chance to tell him her feelings. Somehow, almost miraculously though, she regained her balance, using all of her extra strength as Ladybug to peddle after the car that seemed a million miles away.
“Adrien, please, wait!” Marinette screamed, praying he would be able to hear her against the roaring thunder. Sucking in a deep breath for courage, she lifted her hands up from the handlebars, waving quickly at the car in the hopes that the driver would see her.
All at once, the car came to an almost halting stop, almost making Marinette crash into the back of the vehicle. When Adrien came out, though, his forehead crinkling into an adorable, worried frown as he peered down at her, she knew that it was all worth it. Anything would be worth it for him .
He came towards her, arms outstretched like he wanted to reach for her, his frown deepening even more, “Marinette? What are you doing here? I need to get back to Paris. My father is waiting for me.”
“I...” she gasped in a harsh breath, panting for air, “I can’t... I needed to tell you...”
“What? Tell me what? Is something wrong?” Adrien came even closer to her and Marinette felt her cheeks pinken as she prepared to tell him what she’s been wanting to for years .
“You can’t go,” she shook her head roughly, hoping that she could avoid his dazzling gaze for just a little longer, “We need you to stay. I-I need you to stay.”
Adrien blinked at her, his head tilting to the side as he looked at her curiously, “Did something happen?”
“No... I just... I-I love you, Adrien,” Marinette clenched her eyes shut, spitting the words out in a rapid pace in a half-hearted hope that he wouldn’t be able to hear them, “A-and I needed to tell you this now, before we go. Before you go back to Paris with all your photoshoots and fencing lessons and I go back to all my designs and responsibilities. A-and, um, I knew if I didn’t do this now, I-I wouldn’t ever be able too.”
There was a long stretch of silence. A long beat where Marinette had hope. Hope that when her eyes fluttered open, Adrien would be standing there staring at her with a look of love and adoration in his eyes. His hand would reach for hers, squeezing it gently, “I-I love you too, Marinette. I always have,” he’d whisper to her.
When she opened her eyes, however, that wasn’t what she got. Adrien’s face had practically crumbled and her heart tumbled drastically in her chest. No, no, no! Please tell me I didn’t just ruin our friendship , Marinette thought desperately to herself, her lip quivering as Adrien slowly rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
“O-oh, um, I had no idea,” he glanced away from her, gaze focused on the sidewalk instead of on her.
“Really?” she laughed loudly and awkwardly, cutting herself off before it could get any more uncomfortable, “I thought I was pretty obvious.”
“Not to me,” his gaze returned to hers. His emerald green eyes looking at her sadly. So, so sadly, “I actually thought that you liked Luka.”
Marinette bit down harshly on her lip, pushing down the sob that was threatening to break forth, “O-oh yeah?” Her voice broke a little and she cursed herself silently, already wishing that she could take back her confession.
“Mhm,” Adrien gave her a weak smile, shifting awkwardly on the sidewalk, “I um, well we were trying to keep it quiet actually, but uh, Kagami and I are dating now.”
A choked sob escaped her before she could stop it. She slapped a hand to her mouth, biting her tongue as even more tears billowed in her eyes. Adrien stepped closer to her, hand outstretched again as he looked at her worriedly. Swallowing down her pain and tears, she gave him a wobbly smile, “R-really? T-that’s great.”
“Yeah, listen Marinette, i-if I had known,” he took another step towards her, this time his hand presumably coming down to give her a friendly pat on the shoulder.
Marinette stepped back before he could touch her, though, arms coming up to wrap around herself protectively. She took in a shaky breath, looking away from him, “I-I think you should go now, Adrien. Your father’s waiting for you and I bet... I bet Kagami misses you.”
She heard him take another small step forward and she curled in on herself protectively, hugging herself tighter. Her gaze fixed resolutely on the building in front of her, not even glancing at the boy who had just torn her heart out. Adrien gave a quiet sigh before she heard him step away from her and walk back towards the car. Before he got in, Marinette thought she heard him whisper softly, “I’ll see you in Paris, Marinette.”
It was only after the car drove away and was a few metres away from her before she finally broke down. Marinette fell down onto the cold, wet sidewalk, not caring that the rain was seeping into her clothes. Sobs wracked her body, leaving her a heaping mess on the road. It was over. It was finally over. It all meant nothing to him. All the touches, the slow dances, the hugs, the smiles, the laughter. It was all useless. And of course she would lose both Chat Noir and Adrien on the same day. That was just her luck.
After a few more minutes of wallowing in rejection and pain, Marinette slowly stood up. She quickly checked around her but there were no signs of any akumas. Releasing a shaky, thankful breath, she swiped the heel of her hand against her eyes roughly, brushing away any last, remaining tears.
With a deep gulp of air, she turned around to pick up the bike that she had left lying in the middle of the road. She needed to get to her best friend. Needed to cry into Alya’s arms so that she could start the healing process. Carefully, she got onto the bike, hearing another crack of thunder as she did so. It was fitting, she thought. She fell in love with Adrien in the rain, it only made sense that she would fall out of love with him in it too.