Chapter Text
What could go wrong?
Everything, Marinette's mind kept on insisting.
She had been hesitant to finally take the next step with Alya for a reason, even if her heart ached for her friend for far longer than she could remember. Spent what felt like centuries overthinking if their daily hour long calls after spending practically the entire day together could be more than purely platonic, or if she was just misreading signs as what she wanted them to be instead of what they were.
The day she mustered up the courage to confess her feelings, she felt practically dizzy with nervousness. There were just so, so many factors that could be decisive for the next step she took, whether that would be throwing herself into the other girl's arms, ready for a kiss, or changing her name and fleeing to another city out of sheer embarrassment. Another country, preferably. Bonus points if it was on another continent.
That day, she had been lucky. Lucky enough to see her best friend in every single possible way turn into her girlfriend. Lucky enough to, yes, have Alya freak out at her confession, but miraculously in a good way—a great way even. Somehow, by some magical force of nature—destiny or fate, whatever it was—she had not lost her.
Still, it looked as if she had forgotten a little tiny detail that could potentially mean even more chaos than any other scenario where she had thought and over thought to exhaustion.
The girl was just so brilliant in that she turned boring words about daily, mundane trivialities into captivating magic. Headlines that actually made you desire to stay, articles so deeply thought-out and well-researched that it could even convince the somewhat skeptical side Marinette had that aliens had landed on Earth. Not a single lie ever made its way into an article on her watch. No one would think of missing an exclusive by her.
As much as Marinette loved her girlfriend's genius, she had always known broadening her horizons would eventually lead to something bigger. Countless options opening their doors just for her, eager—even desperate—to have someone with half the talent Alya Césaire possessed on their teams.
As joy-filled as Marinette was every morning to know she would be able to see her face in a matter of minutes, to enjoy her touch and company every time she needed it or simply felt like it, she also loved her girlfriend far too much to not let her go. Alya didn't even have to mention it twice.
"I know this can be hard, being away for six months, but I promise…"
"Take it."
"What?"
"You have to take the opportunity."
Alya was astonished at the calm exterior Marinette was displaying. After knowing her girlfriend for so long, she would have expected Marinette to be near-hyperventilation levels or something similar. Such calmness was so comforting yet so unexpected it was lowkey worrying.
"Marinette, are you okay?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" she said with a half-forced, half-genuine smile.
"It's the opportunity of a lifetime," she continued. "Anyone would kill for something like this! You've dreamed of this for years. I would never be able to forgive myself if I made you miss something like this because I was just too clingy to let my insanely talented girlfriend go live her dream," she finished with a childish pout, holding Alya's hand as if the soft grip she was using would ensure the other girl would stay by her side forever.
If Alya ever needed to remember why she had fallen in love with the girl curling up against her in that moment, face buried beneath her arm to hide the expression of pride tarnished with blooming sadness in the cutest way she would have ever thought possible, she was sure this would be the moment she kept in mind forever.
"Bug, are you sure it's alright with you?"
Marinette hesitated for a millisecond before nodding in agreement, contrary to what the insides of her brain were begging for her to say.
"I… I'll just miss you a lot," she said before launching herself into her girlfriend's arms for a kiss, the soft, tender skin of her lips never having tasted so sweet before. She wanted the moment to never end, just so she didn't have to hold on to it like a castaway in the middle of the sea clinging to a piece of broken wood.
She had lived for almost over half her life with Alya by her side, comforting her when one of her many plans for gaining former crushes' hearts didn't work out, now recounting them as fun anecdotes from their past.
She had been her rock even when she was down deep and spiralling about whether she would have to renounce her Miraculous, or whether it had been her fault all the unfortunate events that had happened, well, happened.
Alya had always been a call away, ready for whatever misfortune Marinette would come across, even when she had been too oblivious to notice how deeply in love her then friend was, and how deeply she had fallen short after.
Almost as if she could read her mind, Alya replied, "I will always be just a call away if you miss me."