Black Butterflies & Blurred Lines

Chapter 10

Marinette

"Honey! Wake up! I need you to make a few deliveries."

Marinette rolled over, squinting at the trap door in distaste. She slapped her hand over her phone, trying to focus on the time. It was ten thirty? Already? She sat up slowly, loudly groaning so her dad would know she was getting up.

"Great, see you downstairs honey."

She rubbed her eyes, unlocking her phone and going to the call log. They had talked for over four hours last night. She didn't remember hanging up, so he must've.

"Morning Marinette!"

Tiki bubbled, in her always high pitched voice. Marinette slowly climbed down to the floor, grabbing a change of clothes.

"Hey Tiki. Did you know about Chat's home life? About how his uncle is so hard on him?"

Tiki seemed to flinch, and Marinette knew she had known.

"Why didn't you tell me? Ladybug was always so hard on him."

She whispered, slowly pulling on her clothes.

"It wasn't my place to tell you."

Marinette sighed, fixing her pigtails. She would be nicer to Chat, he was in so much pain last night. She wished he had talked to her about it before, not as Marinette, but as Ladybug. She could have been more understanding. She grabbed a pair of sunglasses to hide the dark circles under her eyes, before heading down to the bakery. She kind of stumbled inside, and her father threw a suspicious glance at her mother.

"Mari, are you alright?"
"I'm fine papa. Where are the deliveries?"

He pointed to the counter, and she read the addresses. Luckily, it was only a few blocks in each direction, which also unfortunately meant a lot of back tracking. She had to hurry, she didn't know what time Alya was going to pick her up. She grabbed the boxes, and headed out the door.

By the time she had made the last delivery she was exhausted. That had been alot of walking back and forth. She was making her way back to the bakery, when someone called her name. She turned, her gaze landing on a blonde covered head to toe in pink. Rose had always loved that pink. She was dragging Juleka along behind her, waving excitedly. She met them halfway, and Rose grinned at her.

"Hey Mari! What are you doing here?"
"I was just making some deliveries."

Marinette smiled politely, as much as she loved Rose, she couldn't stand the constantly excited personality. Not right now. Not when she was so exhausted.

"Do you need any help?"
"No I just finished, thank you though."

Rose seemed disappointed, and Marinette smiled at Juleka.

"Hey."

Juleka mumbled a hello, before looking back to Rose. Those two seemed so unlikely to be friends, but they were kinda perfect for each other.

"So what are you doing today?"
"Just going to the beach with Alya. I have to get going actually, so I'll talk to you later, okay?"

She started to turn, that is until Rose squealed.

"The beach? That sounds like so much fun! Can we tag along?"
"Just text Alya!"

She called back over her shoulder, picking up her pace. Hopefully Alya wouldn't mind that she had told anyone. She jogged back to the bakery, where Alya was already parked. Great. Now she had to rush to get everything together. Who went to the beach this early anyway? She walked in, and Alya turned to grin at her.