All The Bright Places

The Funeral

Thursday seemed to roll by quickly. Over the week, Adrien became very... very clingy towards Marinette again.

A black car pulled outside of the bakery as Marinette stumbled down the stairs.

"Bye maman! Bye Papa!"

"Bye, sweetie! Be careful."

They both gave her a sweet smile as she grabbed a croissant and ran outside.
She slid in the car and brushed some croissant crumbs off of her black dress.

Today was the day of Gabriel's funeral. She wasn't sure what to expect since Adrien seemed not to care about it. He said the only reason he was going was for his mother.

But today was also the day she planned to tell Adrien about her acceptance letter. After the funeral, of course. She finally had to courage.

The car pulled up at funeral parlor as Adrien was already waiting outside for her. He quickly opened the door, smiling when he saw his girlfriend.

"Good morning, M'Lady."

Marinette returned a warm smile and held out a croissant for him.

"Good morning, minou."

The blonde took the croissant in one hand and helped her out of the car with the other. Instead of letting her hand go when she closed the door behind her, he kept his hand in hers.

Reporters instantly crowded them with cameras and microphones.

"Adrien, is it true that you will continue your fathers line of work for the Agreste Brand?"

"Is it true that your father was holding your mother captive in your basement?"

"Is it true that Emilie killed Gabriel?" 

The questions were being thrown at them left and right. Marinette looked around at all the reporters, nervously as she moved closer to Adrien, gripping around his arm tighter.

She tried to ignore them until one person directed their question at her.

"Is it true that Adrien killed his father for you?"

Marinette almost tripped over her own feet as she looked up with a pale face. The reporter held out a microphone, as far as they could reach.

Marinette had often thought of that. In fact, it was something that never left her mind.
Maybe that was another reason she was choosing to go to New York.
To escape the guilt that ate at her.

Adrien often reassured her that it was not her fault.
But it was.
And she knew it was.
Because if she wasn't here, Gabriel would still be here and that meant Adrien could have his normal life back.
She hated herself for causing Emilie and Adrien both pain. No matter how much they told her it wasn't her fault, she still knew it was.

And the only thing she knew to do, was to run from her problems.
Maybe she wouldn't admit that to anyone, but that's the true reason she wanted to leave.

She felt like Adrien blamed her even though he didn't. It was only normal to feel that way.
But it didn't matter because in a few weeks she wouldn't be here.

Yet, she still had the mind set that she didn't deserve Adrien. He was way too good for her. She still felt like she would drag him down. So if she left, he wouldn't have to deal with her constant problems because she'd be gone and he could move on.

Without her.

Adrien leaned close to her and softly kissed the top of her head as they walked through the crowd, the security guards held the people back from them.

"Ignore them. It's not your fault. They just want answers to put in their newspapers for money."

They both went inside and took seats as the man began to speak about how wonderful Gabriel was.

Then a few people stood and gave speeches. Surprisingly, Adrien wasn't one of those people.

When the speeches were over, everyone went to say their final goodbyes as the casket was closed and carried away. Quite a few people gave Adrien hugs as well as his mom.

Marinette was tempted to slip away when no one was looking but she promised Adrien that she would stay even though she didn't want to. She didn't understand why it mattered if she was there in the first place.

It only reminded her of what happened that day. Something she could've prevented.

Adrien and Marinette were the last two that left. Adrien waited in the car as Marinette stood at the freshly dug grave with a single purple flower.

She couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like if she was in his place. Six feet under and alone.
After all, it almost ended that way.

If it hadn't been for Adrien, this would've been her funeral. She emotionlessly dropped the flower onto the bed of dirt and frowned.

"I'm sorry it ended this way. It was never supposed to turn out like this."

She bowed her head and turned back to the car that held Adrien inside.
He gave her a warm smile when she opened the door and slid in beside him.

Glancing out of the window, she let out a shaky breath. She couldn't tell him about the email. Not yet, at least.

She laid her head back and closed her eyes as Adrien nuzzled against her side.

"Thank you for coming. I really needed your support today."

Marinette smiled sadly and took his hand, interlocking their fingers.

"I don't mind. I'd do anything for you."

She swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat as she turned her head away from him, quickly wiping the tears that were forming under her eyelids before he could notice them.

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I already have everything planned out for the ending of this book as well as the plot for the sequel. I just need the time to write everything out/ publish it.

I also may go on a small break in between books. A week at the most, not long at all. Just enough time to finish plotting it.
I'm sorry that this chapter was a bit short, it's more of a "filler" chapter.

RIP, Gabriel 🦋