Their Closure

fourteen

Marinette woke up to her alarm at seven-thirty. Her head hurt. Her body felt heavy.

She got up and looked in the mirror in her vanity. She had dark circles and puffy eyes.

For a split second, she forgot what happened. Then she remembered. She bursted into tears.

"Shh, Marinette, it's okay." Marinette felt hands hug around her. Her eyes were covered by her hands, but she knew it wasn't Tikki holding her.

The person stepped away from Marinette. Marinette uncovered her face and saw her mother standing there, her face stained with concern and sadness.

"Mom.." Marinette sobbed and fell into her mom's arms again. Sabine sat the two of them on the floor.

Sabine didn't say anything. She knew her daughter was hurting. She only wished that she could take away her pain.

Sabine rubbed Marinette's back until she calmed down.

Marinette pulled away from her mom and looked at her.

"You work too hard, baby." Sabine tucked Marinette's hair behind her ears. "How about I call the school and tell them you'll take the week off. Alya can drop off your homework, right?"

Marinette nodded. Usually, she would argue and go to school, but she really had been working too hard. As Ladybug and as Marinette. She needed a break.

Marinette then questioned how her mom showed up at the right time.

"What are you doing here, mom?" Marinette asked respectfully.

"Well, I came to wake you up." Her mom said softly. "You have a visitor. It's quite early, to be honest, but he was eager to see you."

"He?"

"Yes, but I can tell him to leave if you'd like." Sabine reassured her.

"No, no. It's fine. You can send him up." Marinette just assumed it was Luka. When they were seeing each other, Luka would visit her in the mornings, and would even wake her up sometimes. He was used to seeing her in her current state, so she didn't worry about her looks.

Sabine nodded. "I'll be down in the bakery if you need me, okay?"

"Okay, thanks mom."

Marinette remained on the ground and hugged her body. Tikki hadn't greeted her yet. She wondered what was going on, but before she could call for her, a knock was hear on the door.

"Come in." Marinette said. She felt too depressed and lifeless to speak, let alone move.

Adrien walked through the hatch and sat in front of her kindly. Marinette's ears started to ring and she felt lightheaded.

"Hi Bluebell." Adrien said softly. "How are you feeling?"

Marinette was puzzled. Why is Adrien acting as if he knew something was wrong? Why is he here so early in the morning? The two of them usually woke up around this time.

"I'm good." Marinette squeaked. She feared that if she said more she would start crying again.

"Are you okay?" Adrien held her hand. She closed her eyes. She didn't deserve this.

"Adrien.." Marinette's lower lip trembled. "I'm sorry."

Adrien felt guilty again. He couldn't tell her the truth. He couldn't tell her that he forgot he was Chat Noir. He couldn't tell her that it was okay, and she didn't have to apologize because it was him all along.

"You don't have to be sorry for anything." Adrien said.

Marinette felt annoyed and guilty. Why can't he let her do this easily?