Thorns of Roses

Chapter 32 - Lonely Sunrise

The thought of them made her smile. She really like Captain Lahiffe and believed that he and Alya were the perfect match for each other. At least, this way she could still "experience" true love since hers was a disaster, or rather it didn't even exist anymore.

This fact immediately made that small smile vanish from her face and she was back to her miserable self.

Stretching her arms, Marinette yawned, and - standing up - she shuffled to her desk and sat down on the chair.

The princess looked into the mirror only to see her depressive reflection. If she didn't know she was staring into a mirror, she would have thought that an ugly stranger was staring back at her.

The girl in the mirror definitely didn't look like a princess. She rather looked like someone who just experienced her worst night yesterday. Her hair was an extremely tangled mess and her eyes were red and puffy from the countless tears. Even dark circles "decorated" her appearance under her eyes - thanks to her lack of sleep last night.

And if it wasn't enough already, she noticed something else too.

Her neck.

Purple and red dots covered those parts where the monster was choking her.

"Great. Just great. Why am I not surprised though?!" she let out a frustrated sigh.

Being Ladybug meant that from time to time - depending on the circumstances and the certain akumatized villain - she often got injured. Normally these injuries often vanished the moment she transformed back or they didn't even appear on her as her super suit was able to make her invulnerable.

However, sometimes even the suit wasn't helping when she got hit on her face. Since this is the only part of her body that wasn't covered by her red dress, these injuries decorated her face for days or even for weeks. It usually didn't cause any trouble though as she had always managed to cover them up with makeup.

But this time - seeing how seriously those markings on her neck looked - she knew the makeup wouldn't be enough.

Letting out a groan, she placed her face down on the table and let the memories of last night replay in her mind.

Marinette couldn't comprehend what happened. The number of emotions that played with her heart last night, was just too overwhelming, too painful. The hope, the relief she had felt about Chat's possible return - only to shatter her heart even more than before, by saying they would never be partners anymore. It was just too much to handle.

This exactly felt like she lost him again. It was like a second breakup but this time, the pain was even more unbearable.

"Did I do the right thing?" she had been asking this to herself ever since she went back to the Palace.

At least when she headed back last night, Félix was already sleeping. She could get away from such comments like why was she crying, why did she look so awful and why was she coming back to their place only after midnight.

Mari was thankful she didn't have to come up with some lame excuse this time. Luckily for her, Félix didn't even notice her arrival at all. It seemed like he was sleeping deeply. Although - after noticing his movements - Mari could tell he had nightmares.

Not that she cared, of course. She couldn't care less about him that night. She couldn't think about anything but those glowing green pair of eyes that were looking at her with sadness and disappointment.

This was something, that she knew would hunt her in her dreams forever.

But what was even worse? That after their talk and seeing the seriousness in his eyes when he said their partnership was over, she still had hope. Somehow, a small part of her still believed that he would come back one day.